Phase 2: Avista Stadium renovations continue with improvements to the playing surface, dugouts and exterior walls

Things will look a little different the next time you attend a Spokane Indians game at Avista Stadium.

In fact, it will look like a plot different.

In the MLB Player Development Contract that each of the affiliated minor league baseball organizations was required to sign after the recent restructuring of the minor leagues, MLB required improvements to player safety and working conditions across baseball.

Last offseason, most of the improvements made around Avista Stadium in “Phase 1” of the $22 million publicly and privately funded project were not readily apparent to the public, including the renovation and expansion of the home and visitors’ locker rooms, the addition of player commissaries and the player development building on the concourse outside the left-field corner.

This will change with phase 2.

“Everything that has to do with the field and the flow of the game is going to be impacted in this phase,” Spokane Indians president Chris Duff said. “We added LED lights on the field (in Phase 1), which we upgraded to change colors — they flash when things happen during games. We’re trying to use that to enhance the fan experience. But the vast majority of the things we did last offseason were player-related, health and safety-related, player development-related.”

On Tuesday, about 36 hours after the Indians finished their final home game of the regular season, the club began dismantling the field and dugouts in preparation for the next round of renovations.

These renovations include:

• Replacement of playing surface including new irrigation, drainage and field leveling;
• Demolition, replacement and expansion of house and visitor shelters;
• Attaching padding to the outfield and foul territory walls;
• New regulation-sized anti-fouling posts;
• Replacement of the net behind the plate and extension of the protective net along the free throw lines

It’s a lot of work to do, and April will be here before anyone knows it.

“We have a specific timeline,” Duff said. “We have to be ready for opening day in 2025 and you know, to have the field playable in early April, we have to start work before the first frost. … It took us five or six weeks to get everything ready. So as soon as the crew got on the road, Tuesday morning at 6 o’clock, we started.”

The unfortunate side effect of the renovations — required by MLB to be completed by next season — is that next week’s Northwest League Championship Series games, hosted by the Indians, will be played at Gonzaga’s Patterson Baseball Complex, not Avista Stadium.

“We were fortunate to win the first half of the season, fortunate to make the playoffs this year and be in a really good position,” Duff said. “But we knew this was coming. In order to meet that compliance deadline by Opening Day in 2025, it’s something we had to do in the short term for a long-term gain.”

Other options were on the table to host the Indians’ home playoff games, but MLB ultimately approved the best-case scenario, a move to Gonzaga.

“Gonzaga has been a great partner in this,” Duff said. “We feel really fortunate to have this relationship and have Gonzaga as a part of our community here, so we appreciate them allowing us to play there.”

The team hopes that by Opening Day, a new digital video board will be installed above the left-field wall to enhance the fan experience at the nearly 70-year-old stadium.

“We’re hoping it’s a big announcement this fall,” Duff said. “We have a plan in place to have it happen on opening day, so that’s definitely the goal. We’re not quite there yet, but that’s what we’re working toward right now.”

A “Phase 3,” as yet unfunded, would focus on renovating the Champions Club and upgrading public restrooms.

“These are areas that we’ve targeted, areas where we need to make improvements,” Duff said. “So we’re hoping to continue fundraising and raise enough money to get this project off the ground next fall.”

Part of the project that is nearing completion is the new strength and conditioning building, which will replace the stadium’s outdoor batting cages and minimal training facilities. It will also house referee locker rooms – with separate facilities for men and women, mascot locker rooms and storage for facilities.

The club hopes to be able to hold events in the building when it is not in use by players.

“This building is going to be a huge improvement for player development, and the Colorado Rockies (the parent team) are really excited about it,” Duff said. “We hope it’s also something that not only enhances the player development experience, but the fan experience as well. We have plans to try to utilize this building during games, obviously, and also when the team is on the road and in the offseason as well. We’re looking to program it as much as possible and make it another unique part of Avista Stadium.”