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city
of lansing and lugnuts announce
Oldsmobile Park, the city's crown jewel, a $12.8 million dollar baseball stadium in the heart of downtown opened for play in April of 1996. Since its opening, regular investments have been made on the part of the city and the Lugnuts to maintain and improve the stadium. Expanded seating in 1997, new picnic areas like the Tailgate Terrace and the Bullpen Bar and Grille early in the team's tenure, along with a stadium mural project in 2001 are among several enhancements made to the park over the past nine years. These ongoing improvements and additions have helped the Lugnuts maintain their status of one of the top teams in Minor League Baseball, and a Class-A attendance leader for nine consecutive years. "Oldsmobile Park has become a destination for more than 400,000 fans each year from around the tri-county area," said Mayor Tony Benevidas. "We are committed to continuing to provide a safe, fun place for families to go together at a beautiful stadium in the heart of city. This project will help keep that commitment alive." "We are proud and excited to continue to work with the City and our partners at MSU," said Tom Dickson, team owner. "Our commitment to this community and our fans is as strong as ever, and these investments in the stadium will ensure that the fans and the residents of this community continue to benefit from one of the nicest baseball stadiums in the country."
Results of the audit will be presented to the City of Lansing and the Lugnuts by December 1, 2004. New
scoreboard for 2005 Built and installed by Daktronics, construction of the new $500,000 scoreboard will commence on October 18th with the scoreboard becoming operational on October 31st. Demolition of the old scoreboard components will begin today. Elements of the new scoreboard include a brand new video display, scoreboard and monochrome display and a pair of outfield LED video screens. These screens will be able to display images and will also feature the speed of the pitch and time of day. Additionally, two video cameras will be operating at every game and will have instant replay capabilities. Daktronics, the leader in custom-designed scoreboards, has worked with more than 1,000 universities, major league franchises and minor league including but not limited to the West Michigan Whitecaps and Dayton Dragons. The Lugnuts' new look scoreboard will make its Midwest League debut on April 7, 2005 when the 10th anniversary season kicks off against the Fort Wayne Wizards at 6:05 p.m. "The clarity of the new video screen will be remarkable," said Lugnuts General Manager Jeff Calhoun. "It will be like sitting in your living room and watching HDTV." New
playing field for 2006 The new grass is currently being grown at Michigan State University (MSU) under the watchful eye of Trey Rodgers, the Professor of Turf Grass Management. Similar to what was placed in MSU's Spartan Stadium, the new grass is a blend of Kentucky Blue Grasses. The actual growth of the grass will take a year and then following a week of preparation, high-tech machinery will start the removal of the current playing surface. The field will then be laser graded and the field's irrigation systems will be upgraded. "It's a mix of science, savvy and a whole lot of sweat," said Rodgers about the makeup of the project.
"While the quote unquote experts say it should be done every five or six years, we feel by putting a little extra effort at the beginning that it will make a huge difference in that timeframe," he said. For information regarding all of the exciting improvements, please contact Jeff Calhoun, the Lugnuts General Manager at 517-485-4500, ext. 232 or Patrick Talty, Interim President and CEO for LEPFA at 517-483-7400.
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