Dodger Stadium: 21st Century Renovations

The foul poles at Dodger Stadium were in foul territory, there were only two drinking fountains (one in each dugout), and no one had installed electrical outlets in the clubhouses.1 Besides fixing those design issues after the 1962 opening season, no real renovations to the ballpark were made until 1975 when new, space-age plastic-colored seats replaced the memorable rainbow-colored wooden chairs at the ballpark.

The O’Malley family had owned the club since 1950 and after Walter O’Malley died in 1979, his children, Peter O’Malley and his sister, Terry Seidler, took over. They sold the team to Fox in 1998, when O’Malley cited “estate planning” as the reason for the sale.2 Fox added suites on the club level, a feat made possible by Walter O’Malley’s effort to have a concourse wide enough that fans could drive their cars directly to their club-level seats – an idea nixed by the City Council, which didn’t want gasoline-powered vehicles in the ballpark, but evidence of the forward-thinking approach that defined Walter O’Malley’s West Coast creation. Fox also added dugout club seats at field level, replacing the field-level suites from 1962 and reducing the foul territory that had defined the ballpark as a pitchers’ park.3

From 2003 through 2005, LED video displays were added. Seating was again replaced in the mid-2000s, going back to the 1962 colors.4 Frank McCourt bought the Dodgers from Fox in 2004, and restoring the midcentury-modern look was one of the most visible changes to the ballpark during his ownership. McCourt, though, ran out of money before he could complete other planned renovations, which would have cost $412 million.5 He wanted to build a plaza with restaurants beyond center field and create easier access to all levels of the ballpark from the parking lot.6

The Guggenheim Baseball Management group bought the Dodgers from McCourt in May 2012. Guggenheim was headed by principal owner Mark Walter and included Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten and part-owners Todd Boehly, Peter Gruber, Magic Johnson, and Bobby Patton.

The ballpark needed remodeling, but its condition was considered solid and promising and there was never any threat to leave the iconic stadium.7 “We bought that,” Kasten told a journalist, his hand sweeping toward the mountains beyond the outfield walls. “That classic vista. The bleachers, the palm trees, the San Gabriel Mountains. We’ll never screw with that.”8

Kasten had hired Janet Marie Smith as vice president of planning and development of the Atlanta Braves after the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and asked her to turn Olympic Stadium into Turner Field. Kasten had toured Oriole Park at Camden Yards upon its completion in 1992 and liked what she had done there. Smith had substantial input on the Olympic Stadium design as the Atlanta Braves representative, and oversaw the post-Olympic transformation to Turner Field with the addition of the plaza, retail store, Chop House, Scouts Alley, Braves Museum, and 755 Club.9

Kasten took over as president of the Washington Nationals in 2016 and kept in touch with Smith during her time with the Boston Red Sox. Kasten was so impressed with Smith that he hired her again in August 2012, to oversee the Dodger Stadium renovations, and challenged her to complete an unprecedented amount of work by the start of the 2013 season. Club Chairman Mark Walter said, “We only have one chance to make a good impression,” and he authorized $100 million of renovations to be designed and constructed that offseason. Most notably, according to Smith. this included expansion of the clubhouses, accomplished by excavating under the field-level seats to create a new level for batting cages and conditioning spaces and expanding the plazas on all of the public areas to accommodate new restrooms, concessions, retail, and most importantly, space for the 56,000 fans at Dodger Stadium to move around easily.10

“What we all agree on is we don’t want to change the look of Dodger Stadium,” Kasten said.11

Soon after Kasten joined the Dodgers, he said of Dodger Stadium, “It’s a place that’s superb for sitting in your seat for nine innings and watching baseball – and not much else. … Modern fans want, deserve, and will support you more if there are other things to get them excited at the ballpark. If what you want to do is sit in your seat for nine innings and watch baseball, great. We want to be the best place to do that. If you might want something else while you’re here – to get you to come early, to get you to come more often – we want to provide that.”12

So Smith went to work, and during the 2012-13 offseason, improvements to the outfield video boards, clubhouses and weight rooms, restrooms, concession stands, the sound system, and batting cages were completed.13 The video boards kept the original hexagon shape and with the viewing area 22 percent larger than before, this allowed for more video content and stats to be shown. The new sound system can be heard in the concourses and restrooms. An improved wi-fi and cell antenna system helps fans using their mobile devices at the ballpark.14

New field-level entrances were created, and the concourses were widened by removing a couple of rows of seats in each level, creating new bar seating, and building children’s play areas beyond the outfield.15 Fans with tickets in the field, loge, and club levels can now circle the field inside the ballpark, while stopping in lounge areas overlooking bullpens.

A new plaza was created in 2014 near the left- and right-field gates with team stores and concessions areas. “Fans now expect more than just get their tickets scanned and go directly to their seats,” Smith said.16

After the 2015 season, more standing room was created in the top deck area and more memorabilia displays were added throughout the ballpark.17

A statue of former Dodgers great Jackie Robinson, designed by sculptor Brandly Cadet, was unveiled on April 15, 2017, near the left-field reserve entrance, where most fans enter the ballpark. Club Chairman Mark Walter commissioned the statue. “[Walter] felt it was an idea whose time had come,” said Smith.18 The sculpture was moved in 2020 to the new center-field plaza which became the most popular entrance to Dodger Stadium.19 More premium seating was added that year in the field level, while the suite and club levels were remodeled to accommodate larger groups, and additional memorabilia was put on display throughout the ballpark.

Club-level seats were returned to the original red, blue, and yellow colors from 1962, as well as new bar seating in left field and more concession stands in 2018.20

A remodeling of the “Top of the Park” store occurred during 2019, near the “Retired Numbers Plaza” which now includes five-foot microphones honoring Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrín.21

A second $100 million offseason project was completed in 2020. This project included a new Centerfield Plaza, known as the ballpark’s “front door.”22 This includes almost two acres of a children’s play area, new food offerings, and more social and standing areas. Fans can watch the game from above a newly constructed batter’s eye bar above the wall. The plaza is also home for the “Legends of Dodger Baseball” plaques.23 A bar, which Smith called a “speak easy,” was added. All of the furniture, fixtures, and décor look like the Stadium Club as it was when the ballpark opened in 1962.24 The second bar under the left-field stands, the Gold Glove Bar, displays not only the Gold Gloves won by every Dodger awarded that honor, but also a mural designed by Nights of Neon in L.A.25

The left- and right-field pavilions were also renovated, including new restrooms, enclosed bars with views into the bullpens, standing room on top of each section, and “home run seats” just beyond the outfield wall. Elevators and bridges were installed to connect the new pavilion level decks to the rest of the ballpark. A new sound system replaced the speaker towers provides more direct sound inside the ballpark.26

Referring to the new Centerfield Plaza, Smith said, “Too much is too much,” and added, “You still want an intimacy. We’re still here to watch the game and celebrate the Dodgers. We weren’t looking to create a theme park. We were looking to create the kind of amenities that other ballparks have, but in a way that respected the original architecture of Dodger Stadium.”27

A Sandy Koufax statue joined the Jackie Robinson statue in the Centerfield Plaza on June 18, 2022. Other upgrades included new memorabilia exhibits throughout the ballparks. Murals were also added to the left- and right-field sides of the ballpark, featuring not only Jackie Robinson, but the 60th anniversary logo of Dodger Stadium. Club seats, including the Stadium Club, Baseline Club, Dugout Club, and Home Run Seats were all rebranded for the 2022 season. New seats and other amenities are featured.28

Manny Mota and Orel Hershiser were added to the Legends of Dodger Baseball display in 2023, and Fernando Valenzuela’s number 34 was retired on August 11. Upgrades were made to the Stadium Club and Reserve Level.29

A new LED system was added in 2023 to provide better visibility for both the players and the fans and even those watching on television. The new lighting has color-changing technology for on-field celebrations and concerts.30

A new display case behind the Vin Scully Press Box is accessible to all fans. The case includes some of Scully’s most significant awards, including five World Series rings (1955, 1963, 1981, 1988, and 2020), his All-Star Game ring, his two Emmy awards, and his 2016 Medal of Freedom Award given to him by President Barack Obama.31

Kasten and Smith were very careful not to disturb the view beyond the outfield wall of the mountains. “The beauty of the new plaza is what it has added for the fans, and we haven’t touched the postcard view,” Kasten said. “It’s so important that the people who have been sitting here for 60 years feel as comfortable as they ever had, but with 21st century amenities.”32

BOB WEBSTER grew up in northwestern Indiana and has been a Cubs fan since 1963. After moving to Portland, Oregon, in 1980, Bob now spends his time working on baseball research and writing and is a contributor to quite a few SABR projects. He worked as a stats stringer on the MLB Gameday app for three years and is a member of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of SABR and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, and is on the board of directors of the Old-Timers Baseball Association of Portland.

 

Sources

Much of the information came from the Dodgers website under “Dodger Stadium Upgrades,” which went back as far as 2013. Other information was gathered and listed in the Notes section.

 

Notes

1 Jim Carlisle, “Dodger Stadium Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary Today,” Ventura County Star (Camarillo, California), April 10, 2012: 1.

2 Associated Press, “O’Malley Cites Estate Planning as Why He Wants to Sell Dodgers,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), https://www.deseret.com/1997/1/7/19288019/o-malley-cites-estate-planning-as-why-he-wants-to-sell-dodgers.

3 Janet Marie Smith, email correspondence, December 1-10, 2023.

4 “Dodgers History: Timeline of Dodger Stadium Renovations,” www.dodgerblue.com/dodgers-history-timeline-dodger-stadium-renovations/.

5 “Dodgers History: Timeline of Dodger Stadium Renovations.”

6 Jayne Kamin, “Dodgers History: Timeline of Dodger Stadium Renovations,”DodgerBlue.com, https://dodgerblue.com/dodgers-history-timeline-dodger-stadium-renovations/.

7 Janet Marie Smith.

8 Anthony Rieber, “New Owners Fully Intend to Upgrade Dodger Stadium,” Newsday (Long Island, New York), July 1, 2012: A79.

9 Janet Marie Smith.

10 Janet Marie Smith.

11 David Hernandez, “Stadium Renovations to Begin in Winter,” Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2012: 25.

12 Bill Shaikin, “Sitting, Watching Is So Passe,” Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2012: 51.

13 “Dodgers History: Timeline of Dodger Stadium Renovations.”

14 Beth Harris, “Dodgers Tweak Stadium,” Fresno (California) Bee, January 9, 2013: B5.

15 Dodger Blue, “Dodgers History: Timeline of Dodger Stadium Renovations.”

16 Mike Hiserman, “Dodgers Hope for Smooth Opening,” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2014: 29.

17 “Dodgers History: Timeline of Dodger Stadium Renovations.”

18 Charlie Vascellaro, “Love that Retro Look of Your Ballpark? Thank Janet Marie Smith,” globalsportsmatters.com, October 1, 2019, www.globalsportsmatters.com/business/2019/10/01/love-that-retro-look-of-your-ballpark-thank-janet-marie-smith.

19 Janet Marie Smith.

20 “Dodgers History: Timeline of Dodger Stadium Renovations.”

21 “Dodger Stadium Upgrades,” www.mlb.com/dodgers/ballpark/stadium-upgrades.

22 Janet Marie Smith.

23 “Dodger Stadium Upgrades.”

24 Joe Mock, “Otherwordly Janet Marie Smith Charts Her Own Course,” Ballparks.com, Retrieved from https://baseballparks.com/essays/janet-marie-smith/.

25 Janet Marie Smith.

26 “Dodger Stadium Upgrades.”

27 Bill Shaikin, “Commentary: Dodger Stadium Renovations Are Latest Masterpiece Designed by Janet Marie Smith,” Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2021. https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2021-04-07/on-baseball-dodger-stadium-renovations-janet-marie-smith.

28 “Dodger Stadium Upgrades.”

29 “Dodger Stadium Upgrades.”

30 Michael Duarte, “Dodgers Opening Day 2023: Here’s All the New Additions for Fans at Chavez Ravine,” nbclosangeles.com, March 24, 2023, https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/dodgers-opening-day-2023-heres-all-the-new-additions-for-fans-at-chavez-ravine/3121661/.

31 Duarte.

32 Mock.