As construction continues on their future spring-training home in the southwest Florida city of North Port, the Braves released updated architectural renderings that show new details of what they're building.
The renderings show fans seated on a long grass berm beyond left field; a group space, similar to SunTrust Park’s “Below the Chop,” just beyond the right-field warning track; and a “Tomahawk Tiki Hut” food-and-bar area near the left-field corner.
In a public plaza outside their new spring-training stadium's main gate, all of the Braves franchise's retired numbers will be displayed (see rendering below.)
A 55,000-square-foot, three-story building beyond right field will house the clubhouses and executive offices.
The stadium will have about 6,800 fixed seats, plus the berm space.
The Braves are scheduled to train at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando for the 21st time next spring, then move to the new $125 million Sarasota County facility for spring training 2020. The Braves’ final spring-training game in 2019 also is scheduled to be played in the new stadium.
Chip Moore, who is overseeing the project as the Braves’ senior vice president of minor-league affiliates and strategic planning, said Monday construction is more than 30 percent complete. A “topping out” ceremony, marking the installation of the stadium’s highest steel beam, likely will be held late next month.
The following rendering shows the berm seating area that the Braves say will accommodate up to 1,500 fans, increasing the stadium’s total capacity to about 8,300:
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The following rendering shows the exterior plaza with the Braves’ retired numbers displayed. The building on the right will be the team merchandise store.
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In the following rendering, note a concrete plaza in front of the clubhouse building beyond right field; a “Below the Chop”-type group space below the plaza at field level just past the right-field warning track; and a canopy that won’t be nearly as wide as SunTrust Park’s version.
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The stadium’s 6,800 fixed seats are tentatively scheduled to be installed in the fourth quarter of this year.
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And finally, below is an overview of the complex, showing 6 ½ practice fields for Braves major- and minor-leaguers and other fields for community use for soccer and other sports.
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