Populous Selected to Renovate Twins Spring Training Facility

The Lee County, Fla., Board of Commissioners announced Feb. 26 it has selected Populous to design a $42.5 million renovation of the Minnesota Twin’s Spring Training home at the Lee County Sports Complex including Hammond Stadium.

“Hammond Stadium is synonymous with the Twins and Spring Training baseball in Lee County.  We have some great ideas about creating a fantastic Spring Training experience in Lee County,” said Bruce Miller, Populous Principal. “These renovations will ensure thousands of fans will continue to experience Twins Spring Training right here at Hammond Stadium for decades to come.”

Hammond Stadium, which houses the Minor League Fort Myers Miracle in addition to the Minnesota Twins, will expand its current seating capacity of 8,000 to 9,300 with the renovations. Hammond Stadium field will be reconfigured to match the dimensions of the Twins home ballpark, Target Field, which is also designed by Populous. Additional renovations to the stadium will include upgraded concession services, restroom renovations, premium seating improvements, a new retail store, a 360 degree boardwalk area in the outfield, new group areas and press box renovations. The project will also include adding a new residential Twins Academy for both players and staff, a new practice field, clubhouse renovations, a new parking area and an agility field and training area.

“The Twins have enjoyed an outstanding and long relationship with Populous and the renovations to Hammond Stadium and the Lee County Sports Complex will ensure our team continues to have access to a state-of-the-art Spring Training facility while assisting the county in drawing visitors from across the nation to Fort Myers to enjoy Spring Training,” said Dave St. Peter, President of the Minnesota Twins. “We’re pleased we’ll be able to join forces again with Populous as well as the other members of the project team to create a great new Spring Training experience.”

Construction on the project will begin in April 2014 and is expected to be completed in time for Spring Training 2015. The construction management team will be the Manhattan Twins Joint Venture, which is a partnership between Manhattan Construction Group, Chris-Tel Construction and Casey Construction.

“We are excited to continue our partnership with the Twins because not only are they a great organization to work with, but this ensures the team and its fans will be with Lee County for decades to come,” said Dave Harner, Acting Assistant County Manager and Director of Parks and Recreation for Lee County. “We’ve worked with Populous on past projects and garnered results that made Lee County proud.”

For additional information please contact:
media@populous.com