Phillies making progress on Citizens Bank Park upgrades
By John Town
The Phillies wanted to upgrade Citizens Bank Park this offseason and are in the midst of just that as the work is well underway.
Just after the 2017 season ended, Phillies president Andy MacPhail said that he and the team wanted to improve Citizens Bank Park. It is the oldest stadium in the National League East, turning 14 years old this year. It is still a great stadium, but the team is set to put plenty of money into the stadium to improve fan experience.
MacPhail explained that the team’s low payroll compared to previous years made this the ideal time to make the upgrades: [quote via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com]
"“While our payroll is not at an accustomed level that we’ve had in the past, this is the time to make investments in the ballpark and in the fan experience,” MacPhail said Tuesday in a state-of-the-team news conference."
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MacPhail gave an explanation back in October about what some of the upgrades would be. With building permits filed, we now have a better understanding of what is getting upgraded.
The team is adding and/or changing multiple things to upgrade fan experience. A key focus is redoing the right field concession area and gate where Bull’s BBQ was located.
The permit includes relocation of the Wall of Fame, which is quickly running out of room. Moving it towards the gate leaves plenty of room for more and more plaques to be added.
Work is also being done on the stadium entrances, aesthetically as well as to improve security checks. The goal is to make it quicker for fans to get through security and into the game, which will be important when attendance (hopefully) starts rising again back towards late 2000s/early 2010s level.
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Other improvements to the fan experience include better lighting, changing out the light bulbs in the large field lights, replacing them with new LED bulbs. A crane is set up near the first base gate on Pattison Ave to accomplish this.
A new public address system is being put in place as the team is replacing the various speakers around the stadium.
Some repairs are also being made. One is to replace the protective netting on the right field scoreboard that had its welding separate and started smoking during their game Aug. 18, 2016 against the Dodgers.
Fans had to be moved from the sections just under the scoreboard as a precaution. The repairs should rectify this issue.
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Philadelphia also has several other active permits for behind-the-scenes improvements like installing wiring and erecting a storage shed.