Fifth Third Park | $425 million MiLB Stadium + Mixed-Use Development

[gman430]

20 hours ago, hub-city said:

Construction fencing going up.  Might get to see some dirt being moved soon!!

Checks calendar. October. Hey…look at that. I was right. Let’s do this: 

https://gsabusiness.com/news/construction/84095/

[mainonmain]

I wonder when the owner of the Greenville Drive will whine and cry some more about this project. I hope they get a video of that and play it on the Jumbotron before every home game.

[spartanburgh]

On 10/5/2023 at 3:26 PM, mainonmain said:

I wonder when the owner of the Greenville Drive will whine and cry some more about this project. I hope they get a video of that and play it on the Jumbotron before every home game.

I hope the Southern and Big South conferences will move their baseball tournaments to Spartanburg as well.  

[spartanburgh]

The dust is ready to fly! Heavy equipment has arrived on site today!!

[gman430]

2 minutes ago, spartanburgh said:

The dust is ready to fly! Heavy equipment has arrived on site today!!

Darn. It actually looks the October start date was right.  Sorry @westsider28

[westsider28]

2 hours ago, gman430 said:

Darn. It actually looks the October start date was right.  Sorry @westsider28

Glad to be proven wrong!  (though as @spartanburghmentioned a few pages back, it's grading/utility/site work, not buildings/stadium yet) 

[Spartan]

I would love to see the Clemson-Carolina neutral site game here one year... but it might be too small for that.

[gman430]

Site grading started yet?

[spartanburgh]

No, just more and more equipment showing up!

[rancenc]

Visual of the new downtown stadium.

 

[hub-city]

On 10/22/2023 at 11:48 AM, gman430 said:

Site grading started yet?

Not really grading, but they are now working to clear brush/trees along the railroad tracks and power lines.

[westsider28]

The baseball stadium will go before the DRB for preliminary conceptual approval at their November 7 meeting.  Address is listed as 300 West Henry, which is the southwest corner of the site (near the RR tracks).  Agenda packet should be added to the website next week, which should have renderings / site plans.

[westsider28]

There will be a groundbreaking ceremony at the stadium site Wednesday, November 1 at 2:00 PM.  There's also a new (barebones) website for the baseball team: https://www.spartanburgprofessionalbaseball.com/  You must RSVP at the website if you want to attend the groundbreaking.

[gman430]

Fifth Third Park: 

https://www.foxcarolina.com/2023/11/01/live-officials-gather-groundbreaking-spartanburg-ballpark/?fbclid=IwAR0pONlcTw_EyAuDLd0aMd7bP77yTOWE3s92b0Kd_WYhHZgrdn9uY5zpTl4

Edited November 1, 2023 by gman430

[GvilleSC]

I appreciate the large "Spartanburg" signage. The whole thing is going to look fantastic. 

[westsider28]

Herald-Journal article

Photos of renderings (I think the 3rd one is looking at the exterior on the West Henry Street side):

Architect looks to be Overland out of San Antonio.

Exciting day!

[gman430]

No renderings of the mixed use buildings surrounding the ballpark? Alrighty then. 

[westsider28]

12 minutes ago, gman430 said:

No renderings of the mixed use buildings surrounding the ballpark? Alrighty then. 

The ballpark is the #1 priority right now, as it has a very tight timeline that it must meet.  The head of Diamond Holdings or the MiLB rep said as much in their comments at the groundbreaking: they have no plan-B.  Thus it's not surprising that the stadium is the main focus right now.  Here's a reminder of the overall project timeline from the development agreement:

The stadium will be getting relatively close to completion before anything else starts.  Hopefully we will get a look at the full development site plan at the November 7 DRB meeting.

[distortedlogic]

Very nice project for Spartanburg, this will be huge. I notice the cost went from 250MM to 425MM; inflation I guess! BTW, the pics of the stadium look way more than 3500 seats. I guess plus the boxes and grass bern it could hold as much as 4000? It looks bigger than Flour Field in a couple of those renderings.

[westsider28]

1 hour ago, distortedlogic said:

Very nice project for Spartanburg, this will be huge. I notice the cost went from 250MM to 425MM; inflation I guess! BTW, the pics of the stadium look way more than 3500 seats. I guess plus the boxes and grass bern it could hold as much as 4000? It looks bigger than Flour Field in a couple of those renderings.

They added some development components (extra office building, hotel and another parking deck) beyond the ballpark site (including the Herald-Journal block), so not just inflation.  I'm pretty sure that 3500 figure was always just general seating; the boxes, table seating, grass, etc are added on top of that.  So possibly 4000+.  But still much smaller than Fluor Field (6700).

Edited November 2, 2023 by westsider28

[gman430]

The cost of the ballpark is around $75 million according to WYFF.  

[mainonmain]

Fifth Third is putting real money into this project to get the naming rights to the stadium. I've heard about $15 million. They are big on Spartanburg and are about to make a big move here.  

[Sparkleman]

Can we name the team something simple like Cardinals or maybe Rangers since that is what we are an affiliate and not something outlandish like Spartanburgers or Peaches?

I feel its gonna turn out corny but am hoping for the best. 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Sparkleman

[westsider28]

1 hour ago, Sparkleman said:

Can we name the team something simple like Cardinals or maybe Rangers since that is what we are an affiliate and not something outlandish like Spartanburgers or Peaches?

I feel its gonna turn out corny but am hoping for the best. 

Best not to name after affiliates, as those tend to change.  I think you're going to be disappointed, because the trend in minor league baseball has been toward more clever/absurd names of late.  (i.e. Rocket City Trash Pandas, Amarillo Sod Poodles, Beloit Sky Carp, Gastonia Honey Hunters, etc.)

[hub-city]

I'm hoping for something more train related especially since we are the Hub City and the stadium is next to tracks.  I'm not a fan of "Sparkle City"....