GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (WBAY) – If you’re a fan of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, prepare for some major changes next season at Fox Cities Stadium.
The team announced Thursday more than $10 million will be spent on a major renovation project to be completed over the next several months. The work is already underway.
The changes will dramatically enhance the fan experience, adding new features to Fox Cities Stadium, including a 360-degree concourse, allowing fans to walk all the way around the stadium and see the game from different viewpoints. Other new features include outfield seating and a three-story slide similar to Bernie Brewer’s in Milwaukee.
Timber Rattlers president Rob Zerjav said, “I think making a 360-degree concourse, some of the new fan amenities, I think our park has a lot of character, and this gives it a lot of character. Yeah, I think we’re going to be probably the talk of the town when we get this all done.”
The man behind the design hopes to make the stadium a premier destination.
“I think baseball, what we’ve seen over the years, has evolved from just being intently looking at the action on the field to really it becoming a family entertainment experience,” Jonathan Cole, CEO of Pendulum Studio, said.
“Our attendance numbers were just fantastic this year, so we saw there’s a hunger to come back out to the ballpark,” Zerjav said. “We saw it when we did this renovation back in 2013, the number of fans that wanted to come out and see it. It helps to keep things fresh. Again, I think when you see some of these amenities, whether you’re driving by on the highway, people are going to want to come out to the ballpark.”
One other big change will be the dugouts, with the Timber Rattlers switching sides to be along the first base line rather than the third, which the team believes will offer a slight strategic advantage.
Some less-noticeable changes behind the scenes will bring renovations to player spaces, including the locker rooms.
We asked whether the renovations will impact ticket prices.
“We held ticket prices flat for the past two years. We do have plans for a small ticket price increase next year,” Zerjav said. “That wasn’t really based on the construction renovation; that’s based on our long-range forecast of every three to four years of raising ticket prices.”
The hope is to have the majority of these renovations finished by April 1, in time for opening day next year.
