Major changes are coming to LA Dodger’s Dodger Stadium for the 2020 season, with a US$100m renovation that will include a new outside entertainment plaza and upgrades to its pavilions.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the historic stadium will see a new two-acre center field plaza that will offer food and beverage, play areas, and music areas.
“It’s going to act like a two-acre tailgating area pre- and postgame,” Stan Kasten, Dodgers president and chief executive, was quoted.
Since 2012, more than US$300m has been spent on Dodger Stadium renovations but perhaps one of the biggest changes for fans will be the upgrades to its pavilions, which will see bridges connect the left and right field pavilions, allowing fans to seamlessly walk the entire circumference of the stadium for the very first time.
This move will enable the club to entice fans to move around the stadium and take advantage of standing decks, concessions and bars, rather than simply turn up, sit down, and go home afterwards.
Dodger Stadium is the third oldest ballpark in MLB and has the highest-capacity stadium at 56,000, but the renovations will ensure the venue offers the same amenities of modern ballpark.
“This is all meant to be a celebration of the Dodgers and Dodgers history and provide fans with the kind of amenities that you see at new ballparks without changing our postcard view,” the report quoted Janet Marie Smith, who has been the Dodgers’ senior vice president of planning and development since 2012.
. “We relish the beauty of this place and want to preserve that. I know when fans hear we’re renovating the pavilions the first thing they ask is what’s going to happen to the wooden benches. The answer is they’re staying in place. None of those things that fans love will change. We’re just improving the experience.”
