Business View Magazine - Mar 2024

an apartment complex to a hotel before emerging as a modern ballpark. Today, Riverwalk Stadium is the proud home of Minor League Baseball’s Montgomery Biscuits, the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. General Manager, Michael Murphy shares, “I tell people all the time, one of the best things about our stadium is we are a historic building. But we’re not a historic baseball stadium, we have all the modern amenities that you would want, from suite levels to video boards to comfortable seating and great views of the game. He emphasizes the unique blend of history and contemporary convenience, with the exterior train shed area, protected by the historical society, serving as an iconic backdrop to the baseball field. The stadium’s design preserves the charm of the original building while incorporating up-to-date elements, offering fans a one-of-a-kind experience. In terms of operations, Murphy relays, “We are a city facility. So, the city of Montgomery is the landlord. There is no city operation on game day, but from the maintenance and the upkeep of the stadium, it is a great, great partnership and great cooperation that we have with the city of Montgomery.” ECONOMIC IMPACT AND DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION Riverwalk Stadium has played a pivotal role in the revitalization of downtown Montgomery. Murphy reflects on this impact, noting that the stadium, initially built in the early 2000s, spurred economic growth, encouraging more foot traffic downtown, and leading to the transformation of unused warehouse buildings into hotels, residential spaces, and mixed- use facilities. “There’s an area just across the street from our ballpark called ‘The Alley’. It’s a combination of residential buildings, bars, restaurants, and then some corporations that are all kinds of mixed-use within some of these facilities,” he depicts. “A lot of that started with the building of this baseball stadium and that’s a big thing for us to this day. It’s very important for us, as the Biscuits, for there to be 65 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 03 RIVERWALK STADIUM - MONTGOMERY BISCUI TS