San Francisco Giants Upgrading Scottsdale Stadium

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 25: A general view of the painted logo of the World Champion San Francisco Giants behind home plate before a game played between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Scottsdale Stadium on February 25, 2011 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Rob Tringali/Getty Images)
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 25: A general view of the painted logo of the World Champion San Francisco Giants behind home plate before a game played between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Scottsdale Stadium on February 25, 2011 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Rob Tringali/Getty Images)

On Sunday, the San Francisco Giants kicked off the home portion of their Cactus League schedule, and they may have also kicked off their final season in the current version of Scottsdale Stadium.

The San Francisco Giants, the City of Scottsdale and the Scottsdale Charros are hoping to get a deal done in March to go ahead with proposed renovations.

The project will cost around $60 million, according to Don Henninger, the the executive director of the Scottsdale Coalition of Today and Tomorrow, in an op-ed for Scottsdale Independent. If all goes according to plan, the renovations should begin around the time the Giants break camp at the end of March.

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Scottsdale Stadium is a beautiful little ballpark, but when newer ballparks like Salt River Fields and others pop up, it becomes obvious that Scottsdale Stadium needs renovations. The biggest and most obvious change will be an extension of the seating bowl down each line that replaces the metal bleacher seats that currently exist down the left and right-field lines.

This will provide shade for fans further down the lines and eliminate the heat-inducing bleachers.

Other parts of the renovation will include an expanded and improved Giants’ clubhouse, new executive offices, an expanded press box and a refurbishment of the main entry in the southwest corner of the ballpark. Renderings of the renovations can be found here.

Currently, the plan is to divide the project into two stages. The first stage would be completed by Spring Training in 2020, and the second and final stage would be completed by Spring Training in 2021. However, I would not be surprised if the parties involved can find a way to have the entire project done in time for 2020.

The Giants have also recently claimed Papago Park in Phoenix, the old home of the Oakland Athletics’ spring training. They’re using that site and redeveloping it as their year round training facility, along with opening up a second team in the Arizona League for development.