Take a look at the first designs for the Salt Lake Bees’ new Daybreak stadium

South Jordan • It’s difficult to drive in the Daybreak community of South Jordan and not notice it.

The brand-new apartments, townhomes and houses. The restaurants, Harmon’s grocery store and library. The giant plot of dirt on Grandville Avenue near Lake Avenue and Rain Lily Drive on both sides of the Trax Red Line.

OK, so that dirt is not as eye-catching as the other sights — but that is about to change.

The Salt Lake Bees broke ground on their new Daybreak stadium Thursday in a ceremonial event that included remarks from Gail Miller, owner of the Larry H. Miller Company and former owner of the Utah Jazz; Steve Starks, CEO of LHM and former president of the Jazz; Gov. Spencer Cox; South Jordan Mayor Dawn Ramsey and others.

“What I would want people to know is that this is 20 years in the making,” Starks told a small group of reporters. “I think that they should be excited about it because this is development and growth done the right way.”

The plan is for the Daybreak stadium to be ready by opening day of the Minor League Baseball season in 2025. The Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels will play the 2024 season at Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City, the team’s decadeslong home.

Bees officials on Thursday released the first renderings of the new stadium. Starks said the stadium will have a 7,500-seat capacity, which is far less than that of Smith’s Ballpark’s 14,354.

“Here at the ballpark, there will be a seat for everyone,” Starks said in prepared remarks.

Starks also said the ballpark will feature alcohol-free areas for families and children, and field-level seating where fans “will be closer to home plate than the pitcher will.”

It was also announced Thursday that America First Credit Union is the naming rights partner for the upcoming stadium. Starks said, however, that the stadium does not yet have an official name.

The stadium is part of the multiphase development of downtown Daybreak. Phase 1 includes the stadium, a new Megaplex Cinema Entertainment Center, an entertainment plaza and apartments.

“The 2025 inauguration promises moments of exhilaration from the crack of the bat to the roar of the crowd, creating lasting memories for families and friends across this region,” Ramsey said.

Miller’s remarks were brief, but she recalled her late husband, Larry H. Miller, and his love for competitive softball.

“Softball is in our blood,” Miller said. “Our children were raised at a ballpark. They loved it, they learned the game. We naturally evolved into a baseball family. Those are the roots that I cherish.”

Cox boldly said he believes “baseball can save our country,” highlighting how the slowness of the game makes it easy for fans to come together in commonality.

“When we gather together at a baseball game, we’re no longer Republicans or Democrats,” Cox said. “We’re not MAGA or woke or anything else. We’re Bees fans, right? That’s who we are. We’re Utahns. We’re Americans because this is America’s game. This is our sport.”

City workers have technically already broken ground on the site of the upcoming baseball stadium. Thursday’s was a chance for community members, LHM officials and members of the local and state government to officially introduce the vision for the stadium to the public.

Nearly two dozen of those people stood on a makeshift mound with a home plate and moved a mound of dirt with a gold shovel that had a baseball bat as a handle. Before each speaker gave their remarks during the event, walk-up music commonly heard as interstitials at baseball games played from the sound system.

And to complete the metaphors, an umpire came out at the start of the event, crouched down over home plate, swept some dirt off it, and bellowed those words so indicative of America’s past time.

“Let’s play ball!”