Ballpark Renovations Breathe New Life Into Great Falls Baseball

After eight years of renovations, the minor league baseball enthusiasts of Great Falls, Mont., now have a stadium that offers modern amenities, new skyboxes and a home field on which to comfortably test the future stars of major league baseball.

The Great Falls Voyagers baseball club wrapped up the fifth and final phase of renovations to its Centene Stadium on July 1, a project that started in 2003 in an effort to make it a more pleasurable baseball and family experience, according to Vinnie Purpura, club president of the Chicago White Sox advanced rookie league affiliate. “We wanted to make the park a fun place to go,” he says.

The initial phases of the project focused on bringing the nearly 60-year-old ballpark up to code. The $1.5-million fifth phase, which is in its final stages of construction, is focused on amenities that include new concession areas and skyboxes.

“We basically gutted the lower concourse of the existing stadium that was built in the early 1940s. The original design had the concourse as an open area, but over the years, more items were put into the concourse, and it blocked traffic flows,” says Bill Stuff of Great Falls’ Fusion Architecture and Design, who has been working on the stadium renovation since it began in 2003.

According to Stuff, the original stadium had less than professional clubhouses of wood frame construction while the majority of the original facility was concrete and steel. Wood bleachers were added to the stadium in the 1950s, which were the first things to go when modern renovations began.

“We had to condemn one of the bleachers right off the bat, as it had structural problems for years,” Stuff said.

The third base-side renovation during the first phase cost $1.5 million and included new box seats and bleacher area. There is also a new concession area, batting cage, bullpen and a complete new home-team locker room with a weight room and training area.

Stuff said the White Sox love it because most rookie-league clubhouses do not look like a professional clubhouse. “It is probably one of the nicer minor league clubhouses in the U.S.,” he says.

The second phase called for a visitors’ clubhouse while the third phase included more public restrooms along the right field line. The fourth phase includes a big picnic area and handicap access.

The fifth and first phases are similar in size and scope of the actual work but if you calculated the first phase in today’s dollars, it would be substantially more than the fifth phase, Stuff says.

“We took the old souvenir shop and turned it into the new operation offices for the day-to-day general business of the ball club,” said Mike Tobacco of Tobacco Construction of Black Eagle, Mont., whose company added a new 3,500-sq-ft concession area to the original concourse. “The old offices became skyboxes where groups or companies can rent the suites for parties and business gatherings.

According to Lorie Harris, director of marketing for the Voyagers, people can go outside or watch the game inside and conduct their business in the glass-enclosed suites. The two skyboxes can fit groups of approximately 36 and 16, she says.

Phase five completes the stadium and brings it up to building and health department codes. There are now enough restrooms and the concession area is much more fan- friendly.

Also included in the renovation are two beer service areas along with a complete facelift on the existing stadium’s exterior, including landscaping and the addition of a second entrance, making it easier to get in and out of the ballpark.

Stuff adds that work down the right field line includes a new groundskeepers building, picnic area, playground area, a new bullpen and new fencing. There is a new berm along the third baseline as well, allowing for greater seating capacity.

“We’ve begun discussions about how the renovated stadium might provide a great venue for other activities such as outdoor concerts, wedding receptions and other gatherings,” says Marty Basta, director of parks and recreation for the city of Great Falls, which owns the land on which the stadium is located and has a 50-year lease agreement with the ball club.

The park is also home to the city’s American Legion club and other youth baseball squads with more Legion and youth games being played in the stadium than the Voyagers. The pros play a rookie short-season schedule from June to early September. “Overall, I think the renovation is outstanding and when completed, it will be a beautiful facility. What they are doing out in right field with the berm and playground equipment will make it a much more fan-friendly environment,” Basta adds. “I’m excited to see what people’s reactions will be when they see the completely renovated stadium.”