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The Vancouver Canadians’ affiliation agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays signed in 2021 includes increased facility standards
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Published Jul 09, 2024 • Last updated 3 minutes ago • 3 minute read
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The upgrade is tied to a 10-year agreement the C’s signed with the Blue Jays in February 2021. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /00100694A1
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Nat Bailey Stadium renovations are well underway and discussions about how the bills should be paid are ongoing, too.
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The Vancouver Canadians have shut down their barbecue area located on the first base side at the Nat for the remainder of their high-A Northwest League season to begin construction on a building there that will house a new clubhouse for the Toronto Blue Jays’ farm club along with other amenities.
The C’s have been in a temporary clubhouse in the parking lot on the third base side all season as part of construction in that area of the ballpark.
It’s all part of an estimated $20-million upgrade to the ballpark, and it is tied to the 10-year agreement the C’s signed with the Blue Jays in February 2021. Major League Baseball revamped the entire minor leagues coming out of the COVID pandemic, dropping 43 teams from the system and instituting heightened facility standards for the ones that remained.
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A Vancouver park board spokesperson explained by email Monday that the “City and park board are currently in negotiations on the final funding strategy for the Nat Bailey upgrades/renovation.”
A Vancouver Canadians game at Nat Bailey Stadium in 2018 Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG
The 73-year-old Nat is city owned. Postmedia’s Dan Fumano wrote on March 5 about a Feb. 2 memo from park board general manager Steve Jackson to the city’s elected park commissioners that stated that Diamond Baseball Holdings — the New York company that bought the C’s in April 2023 — has agreed, as part of its lease with the city, to “undertake and complete, at their sole cost and expense, the most urgent (life and safety) down to the least urgent repair and maintenance items.”
The memo also explained how Diamond Baseball Holdings “has requested that the park board work collaboratively in developing a funding solution for the capital improvements, which could include seeking support from more senior levels of government.”
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There has been no reply to email requests to Diamond Baseball for an update on the situation this week.
A Diamond Baseball representative wrote to Fumano back in March that, “We are not commenting on the situation at this time, but we’ll be sure to reach out if/when there are details to share in the future.”
This situation is playing out all over the minors. Avista Stadium is the 66-year-old home stadium of the Spokane Indians, who are a C’s rival in the Northwest League. Avista is in the midst of a $16.5-million upgrade project, according to the Spokesman-Review.
The Hillsboro Hops, who are another team in the Northwest League, are getting a new $120-million stadium. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported in March the Oregon Legislature signed off on $15 million in funding to finalize the deal. The team is contributing $82 million.
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The plan is to start playing at the new facility in 2026. The team will remain at Hillsboro Ballpark for the time being. It opened in 2013, but, the Public Broadcasting story had Hops president K.L. Wombacher saying that building a new venue was the best option.
Diamond Baseball bought the C’s from Vancouver businessmen Jake Kerr and Jeff Mooney. Terms of the deal were not announced. Longtime C’s president Andy Dunn resigned his post in March. The rest of the day-to-day operations team that was running the C’s before the sale has remained in place.
Diamond Baseball purchased the triple-A Charlotte Knights in June, giving them ownership of 35 minor league teams. That’s nearly 30 per cent of the entire 120-team minor leagues.
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The Charlotte Business Journal reported that the pricetag for the Knights was in the “range of $100 million,” and Knights COO Dan Rajkowski says that the Knights “could seek public funding” for their required stadium upgrades.
The C’s carried a 12-3 second-half record into a Tuesday visit to the Eugene Emeralds. They are in Eugene for six games, which is standard practice now in the minors in a bid to add more structure and routine. They have four days off next week for the all-star break, and then start a rare three-game set at the Nat against Spokane on Friday.
sewen@postmedia.com
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Courtesy : https://theprovince.com/sports/nat-bailey-stadium-update-city-park-board-deciding-on-roles-in-funding-upgrades