Take a look inside Utah’s new baseball stadium

Daybreak • When Larry H. Miller Co. CEO Steve Starks drove by his company’s latest creation, The Ballpark at America First Square, one movie scene came to mind.

It was “Field of Dreams.”

“If you build it, they will come.”

Like the baseball diamond Kevin Costner’s character built in that film, the Miller family’s latest creation is also surrounded by more flora and dirt than constructed civilization at the moment.

But that’s all slated to change. On Wednesday, an adjacent Trax stop opened to the ballpark in the fields. Apartment buildings giving residents a view of on-field action are going up. Retail, restaurants, movie theaters, bowling alleys, concert venues, and more are currently slated for the area adjacent to 11000 South and 5600 West, where the ballpark construction site stands.

The names of both the transit station (South Jordan Downtown) and stadium (America First Square) are much more reflective of dream than reality at this point — the square isn’t finished, and the area is years away at least from representing a real downtown area.

Nevertheless, in just under two weeks, the Millers will welcome fans to the first Salt Lake Bees’ home game at the new stadium on April 8.

The Salt Lake Tribune got a tour of the construction on Wednesday. Here’s what we saw.

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A nearly complete ballpark interior

The good news: For the actual playing of baseball, the field is ready and pristine.

The team reported to the ballpark on Tuesday to begin getting ready for the season. The Bees open the season on the road on Friday. The grass, infield dirt, and warning tracks all look terrific and more than ready for Triple-A baseball.

In left field is a tall wall with two rows of seats on top, somewhat evocative of a miniature version of the Green Monster at the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park. These tickets cost $34 for a typical game. Above those seats is a massive Jumbotron to show scores and replays. The left-field foul pole sits at 345 feet away from home plate, just as it did at the team’s old home, Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City.

In right field is a much shorter wall with an outfield berm of grass above it. This is where the team’s $10 general admission ticketholders will sit. The area is significantly smaller than its Smith’s Ballpark equivalent: only 1,000 tickets will be sold per game.

It is also further away from the action than the right field berm in Smith’s Ballpark. The new Daybreak park’s right field foul pole sits 345 feet from home plate, further than Smith’s 315 feet.

The infield seats are in and ready to go. All of the seats within the first four closest sections to home plate are reserved for premium suites, while single-game tickets run the rest of the way to the foul poles. These infield seats start at $40 for a typical game. The dugouts below also look completed, though we didn’t tour the locker rooms.

For the players, the facilities are considerably improved compared to Smith’s Ballpark. Two new batting cages were just installed for Bees players, with an equivalent facility on the other side of the park for visiting teams. New facilities have also been created for male and female umpire and coaching locker rooms; these will comply with new minor league baseball regulations.

Much work to be done

As we took the tour this week, it was clear that significant work remains to be done. While the team says the experience will be ready for fans by April 8, it will take a herculean effort to complete all of the remaining construction by that date. Hundreds of construction workers were busy at the site, and it certainly wasn’t just touch-up work left.

Some elements won’t be done by April 8 — the planned center field entrance closest to the Trax station, for example. Instead, fans will come through the home plate entrance, while those premium seating fans closest to home plate will have their own entrance to the stadium.

The most expensive of the premium seats are the field-level suites, which the team notes are closer to the catcher than home plate. They’re only one of two minor league baseball teams with the field suites (along with Nashville) — most minor-league teams choose to open those closer seats up to single-game purchases and are generally cheaper than the $179,000 the team is charging for full-season ownership of the suites, which have a capacity of 24 people.

The seats above those field suites are either clubs or suites as well, with premium features like food, drink, and parking included at a premium price.

At the top level, two “party decks” are being built, one on either side of first and third base. During games, these will be open areas for fans to watch the games. Outside of the 75 game days, they’ll become event spaces — the team hopes to sell the 500-person capacity decks for corporate parties, weddings, and the like.

Miller officials also say they want to improve the average fan’s gameday experience from Smith’s Ballpark by making parking cheaper and concessions easier to purchase. The team touted that its parking lot was three times larger than the one outside of Smith’s, and that they’d charge $10 for parking.

Inside, fans will have a few “grab-and-go” style concession stands to grab snacks and drinks; one of these will use tracking technology where people will scan their card upon entering and leave without checking out, having their items automatically assigned to their account.

Around the park

The team is also trying to attract fans with amenities outside of the park itself.

Just outside of left field, the team is building a concrete patio surrounding a small, nine-hole miniature golf course. They hope to have food trucks there as well.

On the right field side, an apartment complex is being built, with windows looking into the ballpark.

Further out, they hope the ballpark to be a literal centerpiece to a massive development. Larry H. Miller Co. management touted the retail and restaurant options they hope to open in the coming years, with a Hires Big H, Moena Cafe, and Nomad Eatery planned to open in June.

A central commons area is planned, and LHM officials hope to have the plaza ready for a summer concert series this year as well.

Beyond that, they plan a “luxury cinema-entertainment center,” including “luxury bowling” with laneside dining. No word on when that would open.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the ballpark, though, is its exterior facade. The park’s exterior is wrapped by a metal frontage that contains holes that let wind through, but those holes have been artistically designed to show mountain landscapes. It’s a feature that really works and looks unique.

At night, light will shine through.

All in all, the true test of The Ballpark at America First Square will come over the next weeks (with opening day on April 8 and the games thereafter), months (during what LHM officials are dubbing a “season of openings”), and years (as the planned developments likely open).

It’s far, far, too early to call this a downtown. But it might be the start of something more.

“This is a symbol of progress,” South Jordan Mayor Dawn Ramsey said. “Of economic growth and our commitment to building a connected and thriving community.”