Dan Fumano: Nat Bailey Stadium set for $20 million upgrade, city memo says
The memo says the Vancouver Canadians' new U.S.-based owners are expected to apply soon for the development permits, with details to become public in the "coming weeks or months"
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Vancouver’s beloved Nat Bailey Stadium is set for a $20 million upgrade, an internal city memo shows, but it’s not entirely clear yet who will pay for what.
For years, the Vancouver Canadians baseball club has been planning renovations for the 73-year-old city-owned baseball stadium. A recent memo provides new details around the project’s finances and timelines.
On Feb. 2, the park board general manager, Steve Jackson, wrote to the city’s elected park commissioners to update them on plans, in light of “the likelihood of increased public interest in these improvements upon submission and public release of associated permits.”
The memo, which was recently made public, said the Canadians’ new owners were expected to apply soon for the development permits, with details to become public in the “coming weeks or months.”
Not many details were immediately available. The new owners, U.S.-based Diamond Baseball Holdings, declined an interview Tuesday, as did park board staff.
But the team’s owner is expected to start construction shortly, and finish by winter 2025, the memo says. The work includes renovations to the player clubhouse and locker rooms, a temporary clubhouse outside the stadium to facilitate those renovations, and a training centre on the first-base line where the barbecue area stands today. That building would have a rooftop area with a combination of indoor and outdoor space with a view of the diamond, as well as food and beverage service.
It’s a time of big change at the Canadians. Just last week, longtime president Andy Dunn announced his departure.
Last year, it was announced that the Canadians’ local owners were selling the team to Diamond Baseball holdings, which owns dozens of minor league baseball clubs around North America and is owned by Silver Lake, a global private equity firm with more than US$100 billion in assets under management.
Responding to Postmedia’s questions Tuesday about the stadium upgrades, a Diamond Baseball representative wrote: “We are not commenting on the situation at this time, but we’ll be sure to reach out if/when there are details to share in the future.”
The upgrades are related to new rules announced in 2020 by Major League Baseball, which controls Minor League Baseball, setting requirements for stadiums, including player and staff facilities.
The Vancouver Canadians must comply with those “mandated upgrades” to keep operating out of Nat Bailey Stadium, Jackson’s memo says, and Diamond Baseball Holdings has agreed, as part of its lease with the city, to “undertake and complete, at their sole cost and expense, the most urgent (life and safety) down to the least urgent repair and maintenance items.”
Current cost estimates for MILB’s mandated stadium improvements on the Nat are around $20 million, Jackson’s memo says, but it does not specify whether the city is expecting to pay for any part of the upgrades. The city did not answer that question Tuesday.
The memo says Diamond Baseball Holdings “has requested that the park board work collaboratively in developing a funding solution for the capital improvements, which could include seeking support from more senior levels of government.”
The upgrades are not expected to require any decision of the city’s elected park board, said chair Brennan Bastyovanszky, but the board supports the improvements and wants to ensure the stadium is preserved as Vancouver’s home of pro baseball for years to come.
“It’s the most romantic ballpark,” he said. “We care about … keeping it as much of a traditional baseball diamond as possible.”
Canadians spokesperson Tyler Zickel, who has also called Canadians games for broadcast since 2021, said in his 10 years working for Minor League Baseball, he’s been to about 30 ballparks, and, “In terms of watching the game and getting that classic ballpark experience, there’s no better place than the Nat.”
The ball club is excited about the planned stadium upgrades, Zickel said.
“The general mood is definitely excitement. The players are excited, the (team’s major league affiliate) Blue Jays are excited about this, we of course are excited,” he said. “I’m an American calling games for the only Canadian minor league team on the continent, but you can feel the history of the Nat as soon as you walk in and we don’t want to lose that. But we also want to make sure we can bring it into the modern era.”
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