Orioles Plan for Sarasota Spring Training Home

(a tip of the hat to Camden Chat and Kate Wheelers's MASN blog...)

As we all know, the Orioles' new Spring Training home will be in Sarasota this season (at Ed Smith Stadium as well as the Buck O'Neil Stadium complex) and for the upcoming future; therefore, the team is looking to spruce up and renovate the property. However, a nasty little thing such as politics are getting in the way, and the stadium development plan could be possibly held up.

And yes, there's even a lot of legal wrangling...

Meanwhile, it looks like the stadium is already being spruced up for the arrival of the Baltimore Orioles for Spring Training.

However, as noted by Greg Bader - Communications Director for the Baltimore Orioles - the interest in that part of Florida for Spring Training baseball is very high and ticket sales seem to be doing well; plus, that the whole complex will be updated.

According to the Herald Trubine of Sarasota, the stadium when renovations are complete will have a new feel...

One of the biggest changes will be the very feel of the stadium. Instead of the one-story Ed Smith where the behind-home-plate entrance led into a wall, the new two-story facade features a trio of arches with a direct view onto the field.

Passing through the arches, visitors will suddenly have a full view of the ball field, says Sarasota architect Gary Hoyt, who is collaborating with Washington, D.C.-based architect David Schwarz on the project.

"It's a welcoming shape," Hoyt said. And different from Ed Smith, where "you're either in the stadium or out."

Here's more information on the project:

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