Crews working to have new Bees stadium ready by Opening Day
Oct 2, 2024, 5:33 PM | Updated: 6:40 pm
DAYBREAK — Crews are rushing to finish the new home of the Salt Lake Bees in Daybreak.
KSL TV got a tour of the new stadium and entertainment plaza Wednesday.
Opening Day is nearly six months away on April 8, 2025. The brains behind the Daybreak field said they’re optimistic the stadium will be ready in time for the Bees to take on the Reno Aces.
“The field’s really coming along, said Michelle Smith, president of Miller Sports and Entertainment. “The grass will be planted this month.”
The Bees’ new home is starting to take shape. The scoreboard’s frame is up and the field level suites are in.
“The berms are still really important, to have nice grass areas to enjoy outside summer experiences,” Smith said.
Mixing old traditions with new
The stadium holds 8,000 people with 6,500 fixed seats. There are 10 field level suites.
“These seats will actually be closer to the batter than the pitcher is,” Smith said.
The team hasn’t been out to the new location yet, but the planning team said they’re input has been incorporated.
“The locker rooms will be significantly upgraded and more comfortable,” Smith said. “We’ve also looked into a family area so the families have somewhere to go after the game as they’re waiting for the players.”
She said they’re mixing old traditions with everything that’s new.
“We will have the train here, we’ll also have the fruit race,” she said. “The team will continue to evolve to create new contest experiences and interactions with the fans.”
Smith said they visited ballparks around the country and built upon some of the best features they saw.
They want the ballpark to be connected with a family-friendly, commercial district.
“I’m really, really excited for the community to experience this gathering place now,” she said. “It’s not just a ballpark. It’s now this place where amenities and opportunities for friends and families and neighbors to come together and have options.
Smith insists fans will still have mountain views, but they’ll have a new skyline, too.
‘Downtown Daybreak’
“We call it downtown Daybreak,” said Brad Holmes, president of Larry H. Miller Real Estate. “We want it to be urban. It’s dense. We want it to be very walkable.”
Before fans ever step foot on the field, they’ll see America First Square. Holmes said a new UTA TRAX will be functioning by March.
“You get off TRAX, you’re going to pass a brand new megaplex cinema entertainment center, you’re going to pass an outdoor amphitheater, sort of concert venue, and you’ll start walking down the square and you’ll immediately see the ballpark,” he said.
Smith said the megaplex will include enhanced food and beverage options, as well as a 21-lane bowling alley, two-story auditorium and arcade.
The apartments, office space, restaurants and shopping is set to open in phases.
“We’re working with a lot of local businesses, names that hopefully are very well recognized, trying to help them expand,” Holmes said.
They hope people flock to the area year-round.
“It’s very safe,” Holmes said. “You can spend time outside of the ballpark. You can get drinks, you can get ice cream.”
Still a lot of work to do
A lot has to be finished by their Opening Day deadline.
“At any time, we can have (200 to 250) workers in the ballpark and then outside in the square area, another hundred, and so we really feel confident about being able to stay to our timeline and open on April 8,” Smith said.
They acknowledge Salt Lake County is no stranger to snow.
“The team and I have been working on contingency plans,” she said. “We don’t have anything formal quite yet, but we certainly are doing the due diligence.”
They’re sticking to their plan for spring when the hard hats will be replaced by ball caps.
“You should feel some energy,” Holmes said. “We anticipate kids, fans all playing in the square.”