The Baltimore Orioles are pitching an expansion of their Sarasota training complex with the addition of new high-tech batting cages, additional meeting rooms and new miscellaneous spaces at the Ed Smith Stadium clubhouse.
Philip DiMaria of planning consultant Kimley-Horn presented the city with a tentative plan, developed by the team and Fawley Bryant Architecture, that would extend the current clubhouse and replace a utility building and infield practice field with the new space. (In the rendering above, the existing clubhouse is in white, the addition in color.) Also to be added: 77 new parking spaces.
The Orioles would join a slew of teams, including the Toronto Blue Jays (who renovated the Bobby Mattick Training Center at Englebert Complex to include a slew of high-tech goodies) and the New York Yankees (who are planning renovations of player spaces for 2025), to add high-tech batting cages and more to training areas. The Orioles train at the Sarasota training complex, while the minor leaguers have their own training facility nearby.
The clubhouse and proposed expansion are located beyond the right field wall of the stadium. A rendering shows exterior architecture consistent with the stadium.
“The proposed modernization will improve the existing training facility’s ability to support the Baltimore Orioles organization and their player development goals,” DiMaria wrote in a cover letter accompanying the pre-application materials. “The existing facility was built in 1988 and the needs of the Baltimore Orioles have since evolved with the team’s success and as standards advance for the capabilities of Major League Baseball spring training facilities.”
The anticipated time frame for construction is uncertain. DiMaria told the DRC that plans will soon be submitted that “would enable this to be constructed eventually.”
Rendering courtesy Fawley Bryant Architecture.
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