Meritus Park – page 2

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The Exterior

Remember, I said opening day at Meritus Park was a dark, rainy mess, so the photos aren’t the best …

Hagerstown has a proud history of not only aviation, but also of brick-making. In fact, the Orioles used to like everyone to know that the gorgeous exterior of Camden Yards was made of bricks from Hagerstown.

So the city of Hagerstown has a lot of brick buildings … but they don’t consist of ornate brickwork. And the bricks aren’t your typical red, either.

“This ballpark doesn’t have a lot of brick orientation,” notes Cole. “If you look out at all of the (downtown) buildings, there are no ornate pilasters. In fact, there’s nothing ornate. It’s very simple. Just heavy masonry vertical build.” Consequently, the ballpark’s exterior has solid, straight brick walls with little variation in the masonry. “The contextual response here was to keep it simple.

“Also, it’s not orange brick. It’s not red, red brick. It’s got a little bit of brown in it. You see that in the church beyond left field.” And in the photo below.

The exterior of Meritus Park isn’t meant to stand out from its surroundings. It’s meant to be compatible with them. So you see solid brick walls on the exterior along Summit Avenue and West Baltimore Street (see above) and on the building holding the store and ticket office (below) by the center-field gate.

The park’s perimeter along right-field and left-field is made of iron fencing, inviting passersby to look into the seating bowl and field.

The walkway between the center-field building and the rightfield corner deserves special mention. This is where the re-routed Cultural Trail is located. On a pretty day, the landscaping added along the walkway is beautiful. By the way, the tall building in the distance is the residential structure Potomac Towers.

While this might not not see like a very colorful exterior for the ballpark, “we did add a little flair,” says Cole. “We’ve got 57 banners coming that are going up that will add a pop of color. We custom designed them and they’re going to go on the pilasters.”

He added that there will also be lighting added that will provide an interesting look to the exterior at night.

This is a good point to note that the rainy opening day for the park was what is sometimes called “a soft opening.” This meant that the team intentionally limited the number of people who could attend games during the first homestand. In fact, only season-ticket holders were allowed in, permitting the team’s personnel to get familiar with the cash registers, merchandise and concession offerings before there are 5,000 people there instead of 1,100.

This is a smart move not only from a procedural standpoint, but also regarding the construction. Not everything had to be 100% completed for the first game, which is a good thing because crews from Turner Construction had been working almost around the clock in the weeks leading up to May 4.

So exterior signage and banners weren’t in place for this soft opener, but they will be erected in the weeks thereafter. It should be noted that everything having to do with the actual playing of the game was in place, including the playing surface and clubhouses.

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The Design

When compared to other ballparks in the MLB Partner League known as the Atlantic League, Meritus Park measures up well. It’s not as big as the very successful parks in York, PA or Lancaster, PA, but it is a more significant facility than the fairly bare-bones parks in Gastonia or High Point. And it feels much more like a baseball-only facility, even though it will be used for other sports.

And Meritus Park should feel like a significant structure, since it cost $89 million to create. We will look more closely at why the pricetag here is higher than in other cities in a minute, but for now, let’s examine the architecture of Hagerstown’s new showplace.

When I asked team GM Blenckstone to name his favorite feature of the park, he replied “It’s hard to really point a finger at just one because there’s so many little nooks and crannies. I think people are going to have a choice of what their favorite part is.”

Indeed, there are many more top-shelf features than in other recently opened parks. Perhaps its best feature is that it is a baseball-first facility. Other new venues try to be accommodating to so many non-baseball events that they carry the label of “multi-purpose” too far.

But make no mistake: Meritus Park can host events other than the National Pastime. In fact, the outfield dimensions are deeper in left field than right so that a football or soccer field will fit here. In addition, the playing surface is made by AstroTurf (“They are a company that is making quite a comeback,” notes Cole), and it appears to be both indestructible and made to accept a torrential downpour without leaving any standing water.

The facilities for the players are top-notch. The dugouts are huge and comfortable, and underneath the stands are impressive lounges, training spaces and clubhouses. Even the visitors are treated wonderfully well. I asked a player on the Long Island Ducks (whose home park, Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip, NY, is extremely nice) what he thought. He immediately said how much nicer the visitor facilities are here than the home team’s facilities back in Long Island.

The bullpens beyond right-center field are “stacked,” like what you see at Angels Stadium in Anaheim. Fans can get pretty close to the players here (see above).

So let’s take a stroll around the ballpark going clockwise from the center-field gate, where the ticket windows and Jersey Mike’s Team Store are located. Before passing by the bullpens, there’s the Michelob Ultra Power Alley Pub, which is open to any fan with a ticket. As you take a right-hand turn near the right-field foul pole, there’s a large, open plaza called the DRB Homes Family Zone. This is where inflatables for kids are located.

Remember that the area behind home plate is higher than field level, so you must go up stairs to reach the main, open concourse. Here the concession stands and restrooms are on your left, and on your right you have a clear view beyond the seats to the field. A customer service kiosk is here, called “Passenger Information” in keeping with the aviation theme. There’s also the beautiful, glassed entry lobby for the Cintas Club here, where you can take the elevator up to that lounge.

On the concourse directly behind home plate, you can’t see the action because the press box is here — but I’m not complaining because I love its location. Too many newer ballparks put the press/broadcast facilities way down the foul line on the upper level (I’m looking at you, Amarillo). This is really nice here. (The photo above shows me interviewing Jonathan Cole in the park’s press box. Photo courtesy of Pendulum.)

There is an open entry plaza between the concourse and the entry gate at the corner of Summit and Baltimore. This area is branded as the Antietam Broadband Flight Deck. There’s also a secondary merchandise store on this plaza (but take the walk out to center field to go to the bigger store for more selection of merchandise). Directly over this plaza is the lovely and spacious Cintas Club (photo below). The view of the action on the field from within the club isn’t great, but there are two bars and the huge commercial kitchen here.

There are also eight large suites on this level, and the view from the seats in front of the suites is wonderful (below). In fact, this whole upper level is positively beautiful.

Back on the lower level, let’s talk about the seating bowl.  By limiting the number of rows — there are only six right behind home plate — you have a very intimate feel, which reminds me a great deal of one of minor league baseball’s most intimate settings, Fluor Field in Greenville, SC.

There’s even a very exclusive area next to the backstop with extra large seats and only two rows. The seats are sold out to season-ticket holders, by the way.

As we venture toward left field, there’s the Meritus Health First Aid Station (you knew the corporate naming sponsor for the entire ballpark would have to have a branded spot within the venue) and more concessions and restrooms. As you near the left-field corner, there are two escalators — one always going up and the other always going down (none of these one-way escalators that you see so often at MLB and NFL stadiums, where they reverse the flow mid-game). This is noteworthy, because I can’t recall a minor league ballpark with escalators. Cole said this was included with the thought that Hagerstown has a population that is, well, growing older, and this makes it easier to go from the higher level of the concourse to the lower level of the field and entry gate.

The left-field corner is fascinating, for two reasons. On the foul side is the Meinelschmidt’s Distillery Bar, which is very reminiscent of the The Band Box social area in right field in Nashville’s park, which is extremely popular with the 20s and 30s crowd. On the fair side of the foul pole in left field is the Point Broadband Picnic Deck. This is elevated several feet, giving you one of the best vantage points of the action in the ballpark. Cole pointed out that he’d like to see a covering of some sort added over this patio someday, and to account for this possibility, he made the supports for the video board taller than you might ordinarily expect. Great planning from a great architect.

So Meritus Park is a stunning facility for baseball … but still, at $89 million, why did it cost so much? And why was it so far over-budget?

Cole explains it this way:  “Everyone wants a $30 million ballpark, but the last $30 million park was Gastonia, and everybody said they wanted more features than Gastonia. I think people, especially on the ownership side, always start with a number that isn’t consistent with the times.

“Where we are right now, in this historic downtown district, there is a price to pay that is different than if you build on some farmland somewhere,” he continues. “That’s a lot different than building in an urban environment that goes back to the Civil War.” And as more excavation took place, the more buried items were discovered.

And, making matters worse, the price of construction materials skyrocketed when COVID hit, and the ability of the state to sell bonds dried up. “It was like a double whammy with not as much money on the revenue side and getting hit on the cost side,” observes Gary McGuigan of the Maryland Stadium Authority. Hence the need for the additional funding from the state.

Also, the ballpark might have some special touches not typically included in indy league parks … but more on that in my Summary below.

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The Essentials

It’s challenging for me to assess the gameday experience at Meritus Park because there was a “soft opening” where only season-ticket holders could attend the first homestand. Concession offerings, merchandise items and even the in-game promotions were limited as they were getting the staff — and equipment — up to speed.

There are a lot of aspects we can certainly talk about, though, including what is likely to be considered the signature element of this venue.

As indicated earlier, there are no parking garages adjacent to the ballpark. You will need to search for parking on the streets or in one of the city operated garages downtown, and then follow the Cultural Trail to the main gates of the park. From what I could tell, parking would cost $8 in one of the municipal garages, although some of the paid lots downtown don’t charge on the weekend, so be on the lookout for that, especially along Antietam Street.

The price of tickets to attend games seemed a little high to me, but every charge at every ballpark strikes me as being expensive these days. If you just want a general admission ticket, they are $12 whether you buy them in advance or on the day of the game. Reserved seats beyond the infield are also $12, or $14 on the day of the game. The most expensive seats not already taken by season ticket holders are $15, $2 more on gamedays.

The price for food and beverage struck me as being a lot more reasonable, though.

For the soft opener, menu items included Berk’s Game Day Dog on a wonderful potato roll for only $3, while the Jumbo Dog is $6. A cheeseburger is $9 and chicken tenders and fries are either $12 for three tenders or $8 for two. I sampled the dogs and tenders, and found them to be noticeably higher quality than at most ballparks.

As time goes by, they are adding Gordon’s Grocery Crab Cakes, Crabby Fries, Detroit Style Pizza and variations on BBQ.

For sodas, note that this is a Coke (not Pepsi) venue. 24-ounce drinks are only $4.  Domestic beers are $8, while the craft beers available include Kona, Troegs, Stella and New Trail. These are $9.50. Up in the Cintas Club, there are quite a few more beers and ciders for sale.

As mentioned, there is an area in right field designated for inflatables. Kids can enjoy unlimited play on them for $5. There’s also a mascot named Captain Stryker who is very active (photo above — watch the video outlining his fascinating backstory), and after the 5th inning, there’s the Capital City Liquors Mascot Race (photo above). Does it strike you as odd that a liquor store is sponsoring something geared to kids?

While there is a secondary merchandise shop behind home plate, go the one in center field for the widest selection. Mary Nixon (photo below) was hired as a consultant to help the Flying Boxcars operate food & beverage as well as merchandise, so the store is her pride and joy. It is beautiful, and nicely arranged.

The items in the Jersey Mike’s Team Store seemed to be reasonably priced, and offer good selection for men, women and kids.

Men’s caps come in two basic forms — adjustable (with a strap in the back) for $25, and “sized” caps that are $35. The latter doesn’t use the conventional cap sizes (like 6-5/8 or 7-1/4). No, they are XS/S, S/M, M/L, L/XL and XL/XXL. I hadn’t seen that before.

Men’s tee shirts range from $25 to $40 for short-sleeve and $32 for long-sleeve. Sport-Tek men’s polo shirts are very reasonably priced at $44. They also have a hoody for $65.

Short-sleeve ladies tees are $25 to $42, and $30 to $32 for long sleeves. Kids’ tees are $20 and caps are $18.

And as the photo above shows behind Mary, there’s an attractive selection of mugs, wine glasses and shot glasses.

I liked the look, quality and pricing of everything in the store.

Back out in the ballpark, the video board in left field is exceptionally sharp and bright. It was made by Daktronics. The sound system throughout the park is state-of-the-art, and sounds wonderful.

And I saved the best feature of the park for last. Cole said that once the team nickname and logo were released, “Something inspired me. There’s an artist named Benedict Radcliffe who makes wire full-scale models of Porsches, and they’re just beautiful.” So Cole pitched the idea of creating a similar model of a flying boxcar to ownership. He turned to a firm called Fab Plus in Kansas City, where Cole’s friend Dale Frommelt (he “fabricates the impossible,” says Cole) created what is now on top of the building near the right-field foul pole. It’s pictured at the beginning of this “Essentials” section of the review (above).

It wasn’t fully decked out with special lighting for the opening homestand, but when it is in full operation, it will be the talk of the ballpark.

“It’s definitely a unique feature that we’re going to be able to have some fun with,” notes Blenckstone.

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Summary

It’s been the independent circuits like the Atlantic League that have been creating the new ballparks for the past couple of years. The Pioneer League facility in Kalispell, Montana is as beautiful of a park as there is at any level.

And while Meritus Park isn’t quite as ambitious as, say, Clipper Magazine Park in Lancaster, PA, it is stunning, and well worth your traveling to visit. Plus there are interesting things to experience in Hagerstown, not the least of which is the Aviation Museum.

You can’t accomplish a project as ambitious as this (that costs $89 million!) without tremendous support from the folks at Turner, which constructed the ballpark. Cole said special recognition should go to: Chelsea Macco, the senior project manager; Natalie Rodriguez, assistant engineer (she’s photographed with Cole and Blenkstone here); Granville Higgins, general superintendent; Jack Morgan, project engineer; Hunter Shultz and Blake Wood, engineers; Renee Agbana, assistant engineer; Kenny Liams, CSA superintendent; Thomas Fedor, general superintendent; Thomas Sawyer, operations manager; Jim Lears, VP; and Nicholas Sevier.

The photo, by the way, shows Turner’s Rodriguez, Cole and team GM Blenckstone.

Blenckstone emphasizes that two consultants who were brought on by team ownership have made profound impacts. One is Nixon, shown in the previous section, and the other is ballpark-building veteran Chuck Domino. “Chuck and Mary have been through this before. They’ve been a blessing to have on our staff.

“We’ve consulted with Chuck in every facet of the project, whether it was stadium, construction, hiring, (or) creating a budget,” Blenckstone continues. “He’s had an impact on virtually everything this franchise has done from the beginning.”

He holds special regard for those controlling the purse-strings, since the funding for all of this came from the State. “The whole Maryland Stadium Authority is a real asset to the State of Maryland. I think every state should have a similar organization. They’ve just been incredible to work with. They are quick with an answer and always willing to help us out.”

Two MSA employees, Matt Bodt and John Irby, actually shared office space with the Flying Boxcars during ballpark construction. Two more worked very closely on this park — Al Tyler and the aforementioned McGuigan.

The two soaked gentlemen in the photo are Bodt and Irby. No matter the weather, they weren’t going to miss the first game in the park they helped deliver.

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A few final thoughts on why the ballpark cost so much to bring to life, and on the impact of the timing of its opening. The player amenities, strength of the stadium lighting, and so many other features that impact the people actually playing the games meet very strict standards here. That’s because they conform to all of the minimum standards outlined by MLB for affiliated Minor League Baseball. Do indy-league parks have to do this? No, but when the MSA distributed RFPs to prospective teams of designers/builders, they specified that these Minor League standards had to be met.

So Cole designed and Turner built a park that complied. No wonder the Long Island Ducks player is so impressed with the facilities under the seating bowl!

Here’s why it made sense to do this. Sure, indy league franchises are competing for players, and they may be attracted to nicer facilities, but I think the real reason is that the MSA knows something. That “something” is that MLB’s new standards are very expensive for existing affiliated teams to implement … and some franchises in the Mid-Atlantic states might just prefer to move to Hagerstown’s brand-new, already-compliant facility.

It would make sense.

So let’s tie this into the concept of timing. Like all things in life, ballparks arrive when they are supposed to. Sure, there was a lot of hand-wringing for many years as affiliated ball made very loud noises that it was going to bolt from Hagerstown due to the inadequate ballpark. But in the end, COVID and MLB’s contraction of 25% of Minor League Baseball caused affiliated ball to end in this market.

Had Hagerstown somehow managed to build a new park five or ten years ago, affiliated ball might still have been yanked from here. If so, you would have been able to hear the outcry (as deserved as it would have been) on the moon because it would’ve been deafening. People would’ve asked about why so much money was spent to keep the Minor Leagues here, but they kicked us to the curb anyway.

Meritus Park is arriving exactly when it was supposed to. The Atlantic League is being welcomed, made all the more appealing because affiliated ball was unceremoniously pulled from here. (I should point out that Blenckstone told me, “The game is the game, and minor league baseball is minor league baseball. And the quality of the play (so far in this independent league) has been really outstanding.”) If things fall into place and affiliated ball moves back here, that would be really nice. The fancy, new ballpark will have helped that happen. But if Meritus Park had been built a few years ago and then MLB would’ve contracted the affiliated franchise, you couldn’t blame folks in Hagerstown if they’d have soured on baseball permanently.

Regardless of all of that 3-D chess that may — or may not — be going on behind the scenes about affiliated ball versus independent-league ball, what matters today is that fans in Western Maryland, Southern Pennsylvania and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia are eager to support the Flying Boxcars. The Hagerstown Suns spent decades in a sub-par facility, waiting during what Corderman refers to as “the ultimate long game.”

Tara Naylor is just such a fan. She lives 30 miles away from Hagerstown in Waynesboro, PA (she’s photographed at the top of this section, looking wistfully out at the brand-new ballpark). She accompanied a season-ticket holder to the rainy soft opener on May 4.

“We spent many summers at Suns games,” she says. Municipal Stadium “was so old and beaten down. The field was really rough and they really needed a new one.

“This, though, is great. This is beautiful. This is going to be great for Hagerstown.”

The long game is over.

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