Posted August 7, 201410 yr Cleveland Indians planning major renovations at Progressive Field; announcement set for Thursday By Michelle Jarboe McFee, The Plain Dealer on August 06, 2014 at 6:10 PM, updated August 06, 2014 at 7:17 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Indians are planning and will pay for major improvements at Progressive Field, in a renovation project meant to improve fans' experience at the 20-year-old ballpark. The team has scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. Thursday in downtown Cleveland. Mark Shapiro, the team's president, will explain the renovation plans and lead a walking tour of the facility. Curtis Danburg, an Indians spokesman, wouldn't discuss the improvements in detail Wednesday. He confirmed that the renovations will stretch from center field to right field and will require a slight reduction in seats in favor of social areas for standing-room-only crowds. READ MORE AT: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/08/cleveland_indians_planning_maj.html#incart_most-comments "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 7, 201410 yr First time posting on this site... As a huge baseball fan, the Colorado Rockies' recent renovations of Coors Field come to mind as a benchmark. Like Progressive Field, Coors Field had a third deck in right field, and they replaced most of the seats with a "rooftop party deck," which can be seen in the photo attached below and on photo galleries on the Rockies website. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar is in the works for Progressive Field. IMO, the 500 level in right field there are some of the worst seats in any park in baseball, as they are about 500 feet from home plate and 150 feet up, so they will not be missed. Plus, I attended the Indians-Royals game on July 4 and noticed that despite the game officially being a sellout, the right field upper deck tickets were not sold and were draped with an American flag.
August 7, 201410 yr First time posting on this site... As a huge baseball fan, the Colorado Rockies' recent renovations of Coors Field come to mind as a benchmark. Like Progressive Field, Coors Field had a third deck in right field, and they replaced most of the seats with a "rooftop party deck," which can be seen in the photo attached below and on photo galleries on the Rockies website. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar is in the works for Progressive Field. IMO, the 500 level in right field there are some of the worst seats in any park in baseball, as they are about 500 feet from home plate and 150 feet up, so they will not be missed. Plus, I attended the Indians-Royals game on July 4 and noticed that despite the game officially being a sellout, the right field upper deck tickets were not sold and were draped with an American flag. That would be brilliant! Thanks for posting
August 7, 201410 yr Some renders.... Indians will incorporate more history in the ballpark, incl. @ Gate C – where we’ll add a Larry Doby statue to Feller/Thome! Project will be privately funded & include dramatic 2-story, indoor-outdoor bar. Love the Kids Clubhouse? It’s expanding, as is the Mezzanine concourse! Dramatic new Gate C connects the city & ballpark/field; fans in the ballpark will have great views of E9th skyline! Group outings will have a new space with sweeping views of the field in the new right field terraced deck! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 7, 201410 yr Fun fact, they just decided to move the bullpens this week to prevent erratic throws from pitchers warming up landing on the field.
August 7, 201410 yr Wow! And to think I was prepared for new paint and maintenance work!!! THANKS KJP.
August 7, 201410 yr As soon as the season is over they will begin work. So they've already started? I kid, I kid. I love my tribe. Renovations look great. Can't wait to see them next year.
August 7, 201410 yr Hmm...more places to congregate and ignore the game. Why buy a ticket....just go to a bar or restaurant or the playground and listen to the game on the radio (if your even interested in that).
August 7, 201410 yr The best news is that all these renovations are privately funded and no plan on raising ticket prices for any of these enhancements. Well done. I like the idea of incorporating the burroughs. I hope they include a bit of The Central Market history. Btw. whom is the architect that designed the enhancements?
August 7, 201410 yr So the bridge from the parking garage in center gets taken out completely? That will really open it up around Gate C.
August 7, 201410 yr This is great news for Cleveland and even better for the Indians. In an era of flat screen, high-definition TV's, sports stadiums' capacities should be much smaller than they were twenty years ago. I've long said that the source of the Indians attendance issues was that Progressive Field, at 42,000+ seats, is just too damn big. That excess capacity gives fans no incentive to buy season tickets because you can always walk up to the gate (or the ubiquitous scalpers on E. 9th) and get great seats 10 minutes before first pitch. The walkups for weekend games (and even weekday day games) have been impressive all year; I've done it numerous times myself. The reason the Tribe is last or second-last in average AL attendance goes back to the team's lackluster season ticket sales; I've heard that they range from anywhere between 5-7K. So when you had a cold Wednesday night game in April with hardly any walkup, you're going to have several early sub-10,000 attendance nights, which will drag down the season's average attendance all year. If the team pares down the number of available seats intelligently, the demand for season tickets (or at least advanced sales tix) should rise correspondingly. In a couple years, fans will catch on and hopefully do more ticket buying in advance and sooner or later, you'll get season tix back up to a healthy, sustainable level. And season tickets are not just for the wealthy or big companies--I've been in ticket pools of 15-20 people who split the seats into 4- and 5-game bundles. I think more and more people will go back to this, a la the 90's glory days.
August 7, 201410 yr have to hand it to Mark and the guys. The attendance was not going to change on its own. Being innovative and creative to change the experience and cater to the fans should work to their benefit.
August 7, 201410 yr Michelle J. McFee mjarboe[/member] · 50m @Indians detail multimillion-dollar renovation plans for #CLE's Progressive Field. Will cut roughly 7,000 seats: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/08/cleveland_indians_detail_multi.html … Michelle J. McFee mjarboe[/member] · 29m @Indians to feature 5 #CLE 'hoods as part of new fan experience/concession lineup. Ohio City. Tremont. UCI/Little Italy combo? Others TBD. Michelle J. McFee mjarboe[/member] 26m We have other large-scale ballpark enhancements we hope to announce in next 2-3 yrs, @Indians prez says. 2014-15 renovation will be biggest. Michelle J. McFee mjarboe[/member] 12m @Indians will ask for OK of ballpark alterations from landlord, Gateway ED Corp., next week. Also heading to #CLE design review, planning. Funny comment out there on The Twitterverse.... The Cavs add LeBron. The Browns add Johnny. The Indians add a bar. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 7, 201410 yr Added another rendering. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 7, 201410 yr I watched the press conference. I like that this is potentially leading up to more work being done over the next few years. Hopefully a change will come to the scoreboard
August 7, 201410 yr WKYC has a video embedded in their story... http://www.wkyc.com/story/sports/mlb/indians/2014/08/07/cleveland-indians-to-remodel-progressive-field/13710901/ What will be going in place of the current bullpens?
August 7, 201410 yr Looking at the last renderring that KJP provided shows the significant amount of seating that will be removed from Right Field. I'm not so sure I'm sold on that from and architectureal and aesthetic standpoint. It may grow on me however.
August 7, 201410 yr WKYC has a video embedded in their story... http://www.wkyc.com/story/sports/mlb/indians/2014/08/07/cleveland-indians-to-remodel-progressive-field/13710901/ What will be going in place of the current bullpens? My guess would be seats closer to the action
August 7, 201410 yr I love the direction they're taking and it all looks great. Opening up center field to the skyline is gonna look awesome, but I have to admit I'll miss that walking bridge. I always thought that looks really unique.
August 7, 201410 yr I watched the press conference. I like that this is potentially leading up to more work being done over the next few years. Hopefully a change will come to the scoreboard I want a new scoreboard -- and a new hotel that looks down into the field. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 7, 201410 yr I watched the press conference. I like that this is potentially leading up to more work being done over the next few years. Hopefully a change will come to the scoreboard I want a new scoreboard -- and a new hotel that looks down into the field. I want a new first baseman...Brah
August 8, 201410 yr I like the ideas in theory, but there is a lot of dead space going on in the upper deck. Too much blue, and by that I don't mean there should be more gigantic baseball wall graphics either.
August 8, 201410 yr I like the ideas in theory, but there is a lot of dead space going on in the upper deck. Too much blue, and by that I don't mean there should be more gigantic baseball wall graphics either. I agree. Also the contrast of blue with all the green padding around the field is disturbing. FYI Michelle from The PD states http://www.chasedesign.net are the architectural firm chosen. Not 100% sure that is accurate after looking at their website. If it is true, I am concerned what makes them qualified to design a ballpark?
August 8, 201410 yr I like the idea of the new Gate C entrance. That will look cool as you come down E9th. As far as the upper stands goes it's OK, but there is way too much blue. It looks odd when everything else is green. And hopefully as others have mentioned an updated/smaller scoreboard is needed. That thing is straight out of the 90's.
August 8, 201410 yr ^ What is wrong with the Indians scoreboard? It was replaced around '04-'05 and is still very bright and clear. If anything, the next one will be bigger for more advertising space to replace the static signs around it.
August 8, 201410 yr ^ Nice. Tweet that to Mark Shapiro, ASAP! ^ What is wrong with the Indians scoreboard? It was replaced around '04-'05 and is still very bright and clear. If anything, the next one will be bigger for more advertising space to replace the static signs around it. IMO it just seems very dated too me. I would like to see more video boards as opposed to all the static ads. They overwhelm the video portion of it. And its just huge and blocks the view of the city. I think that space could be more wisely used with an updated design. And the back of it, which is like this big blank badly painted billboard. At least paint the Indians logo on it if anything.
August 8, 201410 yr The revamp of the Colorado stadium pictured up thread a bit seems much more integrated than the creation of the blue monster. My hope is that these are very preliminary concepts, but with them planning to wrap up in a year these could also be more final. At the very least the green does look better.
August 8, 201410 yr also, and this is insignificant given the scope of the project, how many statues do we need?
August 9, 201410 yr Hmm...more places to congregate and ignore the game. Why buy a ticket....just go to a bar or restaurant or the playground and listen to the game on the radio (if your even interested in that). Welcome to modern sports marketing. This would have been perfect for all the so-called "die hard" Tribe fans back in the late 90's, that couldn't name a player before 1995, let alone Sid Monge.....
August 9, 201410 yr also, and this is insignificant given the scope of the project, how many statues do we need? There are many of us (yep, me included) who thought we should have a Larry Doby statue before we have a Jim Thome statue. But I do understand having statues for the team's best pitcher and best home-run hitter. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 9, 201410 yr also, and this is insignificant given the scope of the project, how many statues do we need? I always thought Progressive Field should have more, so I'm glad they're adding some. In Baltimore, for example, they have a statue for every player whose number has been retired. They're all placed together behind left center field. I think it looks pretty neat
August 9, 201410 yr Hmm...more places to congregate and ignore the game. Why buy a ticket....just go to a bar or restaurant or the playground and listen to the game on the radio (if your even interested in that). Welcome to modern sports marketing. This would have been perfect for all the so-called "die hard" Tribe fans back in the late 90's, that couldn't name a player before 1995, let alone Sid Monge..... Nothing can compete with cell phones anymore.
August 12, 201410 yr http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2014/08012014/index.php City Planning Commission Agenda for August 15, 2014 DW2014-070 - Progressive Field Improvements Project Address: 2401 Ontario Street Project Representative: Terry Keenan, Owner's Representative 9:35am "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 13, 201410 yr I vote for a José Mesa statue :P A realistic José Mesa statue would be made of ice and installed at the beginning of every game, allowing it to meltdown by the ninth.
August 17, 201410 yr Going to the game and meeting up with someone for 2-3 innings innings who also happens to be at the game is a very enjoyable thing to do. To not have to worry/deal with ushers would be a bonus. It's also not something that requires you to ignore the game if you don't want it to. That said, I don't know if I'd want to head all the way out to the right field upper deck to do it.
August 18, 201410 yr Makeovers proposed for Public Square and Progressive Field win early stage design approval from the Cleveland Planning Commission By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer on August 15, 2014 at 7:40 PM, updated August 17, 2014 at 7:57 AM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two high impact projects – the proposed re-do of Public Square and the Cleveland Indians' plan to revise areas of Progressive Field – won early-stage design approvals Friday from the city's planning commission. In passing those hurdles, the projects gained an additional layer of public legitimacy plus momentum toward final approval by the commission, and, ultimately, construction permits. The planning commission granted "schematic" approval to the ballpark and Public Square projects, an early stage traditionally followed by subsequent layers of approval. Both projects also received a thumb's up Thursday from the Downtown/Flats Design Review Committee, which provides non-binding advice to the planning commission. READ MORE AT: http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2014/08/makeovers_proposed_for_public.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 18, 201410 yr That was where a hotel was proposed to go. Way too much surface parking down here, though. Need some decks with retail spaces along East 9th. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 18, 201410 yr That was where a hotel was proposed to go. Way too much surface parking down here, though. Need some decks with retail spaces along East 9th. I remember that. I think it was a Courtyard by Marriott.
August 19, 201410 yr That was where a hotel was proposed to go. Way too much surface parking down here, though. Need some decks with retail spaces along East 9th. I remember that. I think it was a Courtyard by Marriott. Yes, it was a Courtyard by Marriott. I may have ancient renderings somewhere, I'll look later.
August 21, 201410 yr an·cient Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence. Wow, this is easily the most helpful post of the year. :roll: A-N-Y-W-A-Y ... here's the stuff I found. Enjoy.
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