PORT ST. LUCIE The New York Mets host the Washington Nationals Monday night in their Grapefruit League opener, and fans will see the new upgrades to Digital Domain Park.
The main piece of the renovation is the bleachers in right field, where 502 box seats and 16,000 square feet of open deck have been added. Also, there is a new, enlarged video screen on the scoreboard, and a new addition now connects the right field seats and berm area to the rest of the stadium.
St. Lucie County commissioner Chris Dzadovsky said the upgrades were, in part, done at the request of the New York Mets and also to help the facility attract a second major league team for spring training.
"It's a great look," New York Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said. "It's almost like a new ball park. We're really proud of what has happened over the last few months."
The $2.5 million construction project started in November and is being finished just in time for the Mets' run of home spring games.
"This was done to upgrade the facility," Mets director of Florida operations Paul Taglieri said. "We signed an extension (with the New York Mets) above our prior facility use agreement, which was going to expire in 2018. So this money that was bonded out by the county extended our agreement until 2023."
St. Lucie County commissioner Chris Dzadovsky said the county was able to restructure a bond at a lower interest rate, which will save the county "quite a lot of money" in the long run.
"We were able to do this without expanding the budget," Dzadovsky said. "We were able to put in 12 to 15,000 square feet of administrative space that could be used for another team. It also provides for a better fan experience.
"This makes it better for all of us."
The scoreboard in left field is the same size, but ads have been removed to make room for a state-of-the-art, high definition video board, which is four times larger than the previous one. Dzadovsky said the Mets requested the larger video board to better accommodate sponsorship and advertising.
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Digital Domain Park ready to show off its upgrades