Progressive Field Fan Improvements Phase 1

Cleveland Indians Baseball Club

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CLIENT GOALS

The project goals centered around re-imagining the American Ballpark and aligning the capacity, features, experiences and amenities with the modern entertainment consumer. It was about enhancing the fan experience, improving cityscape sight-lines to promote vibrancy within the ball park. And, of course an accelerated project schedule was necessary to have the park ready by Opening Day.

SOLUTIONS

This renovation traded roughly 7,000 little-used seats and empty suites for new gathering areas to accommodate the family-friendly areas and social environments for young professionals Major League Baseball fans are demanding. Redesign of the stadium’s Gate C entrance off East Ninth Street now provides views into the ballpark from the street. This new design strengthens the tie between the stadium’s pulsating energy and the active city streets. A new, two-story indoor-outdoor bar, expansion and renovation of the family-friendly kid’s zone, and the incorporation of Cleveland neighborhood themed areas filled with unique food and drinks were all included in the improvement project. Both the home and visitor’s bullpens were moved into center field. By shifting their location, a section of exclusive seats in front of the new, glass-encased bullpens is now open to fans who want an up-close view of the bullpen in action. This also provided space for seats to be placed closer to the field in place of the bullpen’s previous location.

RESULTS

With a fast-track construction schedule of only six-months during the off-season, construction began immediately following the final home game of the 2014 season and was completed for opening day of the 2015 season.

“As we approach Opening Day, I want to take a moment to thank you and the rest of the WMF team for helping us get to this point. Your team took on a complex renovation in a short time frame with a dynamic set of stakeholders and embraced that challenge with commitment and professionalism. We encountered many challenges during the project and you approached each one with poise, patience and expertise which directly contributed to a better outcome for the project and a better culture within the working team. I have developed tremendous respect for you and trust your judgment immensely. Generations of Indians fans will have a better experience at Progressive Field because of your efforts.”

Jeff Wilen
Director, Strategy and Business Analytics

Cleveland Indians Baseball Club