![]() Otherwise, the place remains known for having a decent amount of lawn seating in the outfield and nice views of the distant mountain ranges from its 200-level sections, which are those that are above a wide aisle that splits the grandstand into lower and upper halves. It’s certainly a fun thing to stare at when you need a distraction and given the scoreboard’s bigness – it’s the largest in the Cactus League – Mesa’s stadium can rightfully be called the home of the whopper. So small stuff like that, with one big exception: the scoreboard in left field is now one big board of fully high-definition capable video. The entrance to the team shop on the third base concourse was made more appealing, as were the entrance gates themselves. Seating rows were renumbered they used to be lettered, so now, for example, rows span 1 to 12 rather than A to L in sections that have a dozen rows. Refurbished 18 years later to the tune of what it cost to build (roughly $18 million in both cases), the difference between the original and renewed version is minimal.Ĭases in point on the changes: Gathering space shaded by metal canopies replaced the aforementioned bleachers along each outfield line. However, the more colorful confines still feel oversized, which most people first experience upon entrance into the stadium’s cavernous concourse, which spans the backside of the large split-level grandstand that now holds all of the park’s fixed seats.Ī main concourse that has no view of the field is a big a no-no nowadays and was becoming rarer in 1997, when Hohokam made its debut as the Cubs’ winter home. But at least much of the edifice that used to be so bland is now bathed in green and gold while capacity was downsized by a few thousand thanks to the removal of the big banks of bleachers that were down each outfield line. Opened in the post-Camden Yards era when blueprints finally got creative, or at least relied on retro quaintness, this is one place that managed to buck that trend and when it was given new life in 2015 it still clung to its big box-like basicness. What's new again still feels kinda old, as the transformation that changed the Cubs' Hohokam Park into the Athletics' Hohokam Stadium didn't alter all that much of what has always been a pretty simple structure that was substantial in size but unimaginative in design. ![]()
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