Ballpark Design-Build Team Challenging Qualifications of Competing Group

The Wichita (KS) City Council hasn’t officially approved a design-build team for the city’s new $75 million, Triple-A Minor League ballpark, but there’s already been a protest over the recommended group.  There were three groups that bid on the project — a team that includes DLR Group, another that includes Populous, and a third that includes HKS Architects.  Read more here.

Gator Athletic Association Makes Pitch for New Ballpark

The University of Florida’s University Athletic Association has put together a proposal for a new baseball stadium less than a year after the Gators won the 2018 national title.  Read more here.  Learn more details and view renderings from Populous here.

Madison (AL) Takes Next Ballpark Steps to Snag BayBears

Now that BallCorps, LLC owns the Mobile BayBears (Double-A, Southern League), Madison (AL) is up to bat to claim the team.  Monday, the city took its first swing at landing a the team by agreeing to spend just shy of $300,000 on an architectural firm and construction management expertise to work out some key details.  Read more and watch news report here.

Renderings Released of Proposed Madison Ballpark

What might a minor league stadium in Madison (AL) look like?  Renderings, done by Populous, have been released of a potential 7,200-seat, $40 million ballpark at Town Madison, the under-construction development on I-565 about 10 miles from downtown Huntsville.  Read more and view renderings gallery here.

Amarillo Ballpark Design Concept Moves Forward

Amarillo is one step closer to a downtown ballpark after the Local Government Corp. approved a concept drawing at its recent meeting.  Read more here.

Amarillo Hears Ballpark Update

Populous senior architect Mike Sabatini led the first of three community meetings to hear feedback on the future downtown Amarillo (TX) ballpark on Tuesday.  Read more here.

Demolition Underway at Dudy Noble Field

As previously reported, Mississippi State’s Dudy Noble Field-Pole-Dement Stadium, which has hosted four SEC tournaments, a number of NCAA Regionals and two Super Regionals, is being renovated this offseason.  As shown in a recent video posted, demolition has already begun.  Watch video here.

Ballpark Visit ALERT: The Depot at Cleburne Station (Cleburne, TX)

Joe Mock from BaseballParks.com recently visited The Depot at Cleburne Station, the brand-new home of the first-year Cleburne Railroaders (Independent Professional, American Association).  The ballpark was designed by Populous.  Read more and view photos here.

Kannapolis Approves New Ballpark Design

The Kannapolis (NC) City Council has approved a design for the new baseball stadium presented by architecture firm Populous.  Read more and view rendering here.

UConn Releases Feasibility Report for New Ballpark, Other Athletic Facilities

Based on a newly released feasibility study from the University of Connecticut, a fair share of the Huskies’ athletic programs may be receiving upgrades to their home facilities in the not-so-distant future.  The report, put together by architecture firm Populous, includes a new ballpark for the UConn baseball team.  Read more here.  View report here.

Exclusive Ballpark Tour: SunTrust Park

Joe Mock from BaseballParks.com was recently given an exclusive ballpark tour of the new SunTrust Park currently under construction in Cobb County, about ten miles north of downtown Atlanta.  Read more and view photos here.

The Design Firm Behind the Proposed Providence Ballpark

Over nearly three decades, Joe Spear and Earl Santee have built Kansas City-based Populous from an offshoot of design firm HOK into the preeminent sports architecture company in the country.  Populous is one of two firms that worked on the plans for the proposed Triple-A ballpark in downtown Providence (RI).  Read more here.

Envisioning Ballpark Design of the Future

Andrew Seligman from the Associated Press asks us to imagine the baseball parks of the future reliant on technology, which could lead to giant hologram video boards and entire ballpark facades going electronic.  Read more here

Columbia Ballpark Designer: Fans Will Be ‘Blown Away’

Take it from Mike Sabatini, a senior architect for Populous, the design firm for Columbia’s new baseball stadium at the Bull Street development.  Spirit Communications Park is going to be a home run.  Read more here.

Four MLB Playoff Teams, One Ballpark Design Firm

As teams take the field for MLB’s ALCS and NLCS games, it is interesting to point out that Kansas City-based Populous had a hand in the renovation or design of the ballparks for all four playoff teams: the Kansas City Royals, the Baltimore Orioles, the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals.  Read more here.

Breaking News: A First Look at the New Nashville Ballpark

We are pleased to report that our site is the first to announce that Joe Mock from BaseballParks.com has prepared a look at the construction site of First Tennessee Park, which will be the new home for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds (International League) in 2015.  Read more and view photos here.

Populous Gets the Call in Columbia

The Columbia (SC) City Council decided Tuesday to hire Kansas City (MO)-based Populous to design and oversee construction of the new minor league baseball stadium in the Bull Street neighborhood.  The city will pay the firm $2,025,000 under the contract.  Read more here.

Mississippi State Announces Plans for New Ballpark

Mississippi State University has announced plans for a new $40 million baseball stadium for the Bulldogs.  The ballpark will be a completely new facility on the site of the current Dudy Noble Field/Polk-Dement Stadium, rather than a renovation of the existing structure.  Read more and view renderings here.  View video here.

SBJ Talks with Ballpark Architect Martin Dinitto, Zephr Field on Deck

The Sports Business Journal talks with ballpark architect Martin Dinitto from Ballpark Design Associates about his work designing minor league baseball stadiums, as he turns his attention to upgrades for Zephyr Field, home of the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs.  Dinitto spent 24 years working for Populous and HNTB before starting his own firm in 2010.  Read more here.

Mock Impressed by Footprint of New El Paso Ballpark

Joe Mock from BaseballParks.com had very positive words to say about Southwest University Park, the new home of the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas (Pacific Coast League), when he spoke with El Paso Inc. from the press box.  Mock seemed most impressed at how Populous managed to successfully jam a 9,000-seat baseball stadium into a little more than five acres.  Read more here.

Columnist Pleads for Intimacy Amid Talk of Upgrading Coca-Cola Field

As the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons (International League) and Kansas City-based architectural firm Populous begin to develop a plan for major upgrades to Coca-Cola Field, one columnist is calling for the seating capacity to be reduced from 18,000 to 12,000 to deal with the stadium’s intimacy problem.  Read more here.

The Ballpark of the Future

Sports Illustrated approached stadium designer Populous to look into the future and envision a realistic design for stadiums in the 2030s.  After the Populous team brainstormed ideas and concepts, they created 37,500-seat Living Park.  Read more and view renderings here.

Braves Choose Populous

The Atlanta Braves have selected Kansas City-based Populous, formerly HOK, as the lead architect for the team’s planned new ballpark in Cobb County (GA).  Read more here.

First Peek at El Paso Ballpark Renderings

Artist renderings of the new $50-million ballpark for the relocating Triple-A Tucson Padres (Pacific Coast League) were presented to the El Paso City Council Tuesday by Populous, the design firm hired to design the facility.  Read more and watch video here.  View renderings here.

El Paso Hires Populous to Design New Ballpark

The El Paso City Council voted 6-2 Tuesday to approve a more than $3 million contract with Kansas City-based Populous (formerly HOK) as the designer for the city’s new $50 million downtown ballpark for the relocated Triple-A Tucson Padres (Pacific Coast League).  Read more here.

Designing Stadiums

The Wall Street Journal sheds a little light on the stadium-design process by talking with sports stadium architect Earl Santee from Kansas City (MO)-based Populous, formerly known as HOK.  Read more here.

Populous Hired to Design El Paso Ballpark

The City of El Paso’s Engineering and Construction Management Department has hired Populous, Inc. (formerly HOK) to produce the conceptual designs for the proposed new downtown ballpark for the Triple-A Tucson Padres (Pacific Coast League).  Read more here.

Building Site, Parking Not a Problem for El Paso Ballpark Project, Special Meeting Today

In case anyone was wondering, the downtown six-acre site chosen for El Paso’s new 7,000-seat Triple-A ballpark is large enough to accommodate the project, according to Populous sports architect David Bower.  Parking also appears to be a non-issue, as an inventory of existing available parking shows 8,392 parking garage spaces and 1,825 metered parking spots to accommodate 30,000 people.

Renderings Unveiled for New Richmond Ballpark

PRESS RELEASE – The Richmond Flying Squirrels have released conceptual renderings of what a proposed regional ballpark on the Boulevard could resemble. Created by Populous, an international design firm specializing in sports architecture, the depicted ballpark reflects a “Richmondesque” design with brick exterior, a grass berm

MiLB Signs Off on Pensacola Ballpark Design

After the design firm Populous significantly upgraded the design for the new ballpark in Pensacola (FL) to meet Double-A standards, Minor League Baseball officials this week signed off on the project.  Read more here.

Coastal Carolina University Expanding Park, Selects Architect

Coastal Carolina University athletic director Hunter Yurachek announced last week the selection of Michael Keeshen & Associates in partnership with Populous as the architectural team to move forward with plans to expand the Chanticleers’ 850-seat Watson Stadium to 2,500 permanent seats.  Read more here.  Thanks to John Cerone for the link.

Target Field Wins National Design Award

Target Field, the second-year home of the Minnesota Twins, has been named “Sports Facility of the Year” by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily.  The stadium was designed by Kansas City-based Populous.  Read more here.