Mustang News Staff Report
[follow id = “CPMustangSports”]
Cal Poly Athletics unveiled Phase 1 of the Baggett Stadium Enhancement Project on Thursday, revealing initial plans to update the Cal Poly baseball team’s home field.
Four million dollars of the $6 million needed to complete the project is currently in hand, allowing architectural design work to begin and bids to be secured from contractors over the next 12 months.
[tribulant_slideshow gallery_id=”4″]
The funding comes from private sources and consists of Cal Poly alumni, parents of student-athletes and local community members. Benefits for members of the Diamond Foundation Founders include unlimited lifetime access to the Founders Pavilion, naming opportunities within the clubhouse facility, travel opportunities to series on the road — including postseason VIP packages for NCAA postseason competition — a Founders embroidered letterman’s jacket and an annual Cal Poly parking permit.
Phase I of the project includes a two-story clubhouse with an expanded locker room, state-of-the-art athletic training and physical therapy room, a study area, a dressing room for umpires, coaches’ offices, conference room, the Founders Pavilion and a Legends Lobby. The project also includes the installation of permanent seating to replace temporary bleachers, raising the capacity of Baggett Stadium to between 3,250 and 3,500 fans, according to the release.
The renovations focus on the facilities used by the student-athletes, improving the quality and size of the locker room and offices. The baseball program hopes the improvements will help sign recruits to keep the program a perennial powerhouse.
The current facilities will be demolished, allowing for a full reconstruction in the same location as the current dugout and expanding down the left-field line in between the batting cages and Stadium Way.
Groundbreaking for the project is scheduled to begin immediately following the conclusion of the 2016 baseball season. The team will use temporary locker facilities during the 2017 season, and the project will be completed by Fall 2017.