April 6, 2011

$30M renovation completed at Tacoma's Cheney Stadium

Photo courtesy Tacoma Rainiers [enlarge]

Part of the renovation was a new grand facade with letters almost five feet high. c

The $30 million renovation of Cheney Stadium is complete. The 96,000-square-foot project is the first full renovation in 51 years for the home of the Tacoma Rainiers.

The stadium is owned by the city of Tacoma and leased by the Rainiers, which recently signed a 30-year agreement for the space. Most of the renovation was funded by a $28 million private-public bond.

The fast-tracked project took 210 days to complete, from the Rainiers' final home game Sept. 2, 2010 to completion April 1.

Press materials said in 1960 crews took three months and 14 days to build the original stadium. The original cost $940,000, and businessman Ben Cheney putting up $100,000 to cover overruns.

One of the most obvious changes is the new grand facade, with letters almost five feet high spelling out Cheney Stadium alongside the Rainiers compass logo. Both fixtures are lit internally with LED lights and hover over the stadium's new atrium.

The new grandstand has 16 luxury suites. There is also a 4,000-square-foot club and restaurant, new left field entrance, twice as many restrooms, more space for concessions, more ADA seating and a new team clubhouse.

The wooden walls that formerly lined left and right field have been removed and replaced with lower, padded chain-link fences with inset bullpens. The Rainiers clubhouse and dugout, formerly located along the first base line, have shifted to third base, with visiting teams now placed in the renovated first base location.

Photo courtesy Tina Dunn [enlarge]

The project added 16 luxury suites, a 4,000-foot club and restaurant, and new left field access to the 1960 stadium.

The project also includes a public art piece called “The Home Run,” which depicts a school of salmon with internal color-changing LED lights.

Mortenson Construction was general contractor under a $23 million contract. The design team included Belay Architecture and Populous, a sports architecture firm based in Kansas City and formerly known as HOK Sport.

The stadium has new underground electrical and plumbing, new lights and new masonry work. There are 9,000 pounds of steel that span 96,000 square feet.

Alyson Jones, director of media development and events for the Rainiers, said the stadium was built to be “geographically relevant,” meaning additions were constructed using local materials intended to reflect Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest. For example, the roof is made from Douglas fir glu-lam beams, the largest of which weighs over 7,000 pounds.

The Rainiers were recently purchased by a group of 15 partners, led by Mikal Thomsen of University Place. He said in a press release the structure has been turned into a local landmark fans will love.