Nov-2017

124 125 hosts a variety of events that appeal to the San Diego community. We designed the ballpark in such a way that bringing together a community and creating these memorable experiences would be para- mount.” So, in addition to the Padre’s 81-game home season from April through Septem- ber, the Park is host to a lot of non-base- ball events. “That was part of the thought process,” Guglielmo continues. “Our fran- chise is considered a community asset; we want our venue to reflect that and we try to schedule as many events as pos- sible. Our present ownership group, led by Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler, want to ensure that we live up the promises that were made in 1998, so we look for events and opportunities that can really galva- nize a community, utilizing this venue as a source of community pride. We’ve had rugby sevens; we have target golf; we’ve had the U.S. Davis Tennis match be- tween the U.S.A. and England; we’ve had college basketball; we have corporate events; we have concerts.” One of Petco Park’s signature assets is its “Park at the Park.” “It’s located north of the seating bowl, and on a game day, people can buy a park pass and watch the game sitting on a grassy berm with a view into the ballpark,” says Guglielmo. “And we also have a video board that they can watch the game from, as well. But when there’s not an event, the park is open to the public, and it’s a great oppor- PETCO PARK Although a relatively new stadium, Guglielmo reports that over $50 million have been invested into Park upgrades and improvements over the past few years, “in an effort to ensure that it’s in the top ech- elon of sports venues,” he states. tunity for people to come to the downtown area, experience an urban setting that has a tremen- dous green space, have their lunch. . . they can even watch our groundskeeping staff get ready for a game.” Although a relatively new stadium, Gugliel- mo reports that over $50 million have been invested into Park upgrades and improvements over the past few years, “in an effort to ensure that it’s in the top echelon of sports venues,” he states. “About $40 million of that is in capital projects, and another $10 million for deferred maintenance. The capital projects include a state-of-the-art, HD video board, which is the largest in the National League and the third largest in Major League Baseball behind Seattle and Kansas City. We also installed a new Sony HD control room that includes in-house produc- tion, BrightCast entertainment systems, state-of- the-art LED ribbon boards, and a new Daktronics Audio system. We also installed new LED sports lighting that was from Musco. We were the first team in the National League to install LED lighting and the second team, overall, in Major League Baseball. We have retrofitted 100 per- cent of the ballpark to all LED lighting.