By Steve Dallas, Laredo Midday Times

12/12/2014: Laredo, TX – In what team officials were calling “an early Christmas present” to their fans, the San Antonio Calzones de Laredo today officially unveiled details of the renovation of Elysian Fields.  While extensive renovation to the outfield seating area in left field and to the concourse and plaza in right field began immediately after the Calzones’ home season ended in late September, the public has been left in the dark as to exactly what changes would be coming to the beloved downtown ballpark by the river.  With the official unveiling of the design today in a ceremony at the Calzones’ temporary offices in the La Posada Hotel on Zaragoza Street in Laredo, fans were able to get their first glimpses of what the newly renovated ballpark will look like and what it will have to offer.

The Calzones were represented at the unveiling by owner Cledus “Snowman” Snow, who largely just shook hands and smiled while General Manager Matt Higgins spoke and answered questions about the renovated facility. After a brief introduction about the costs associated with the renovation and a “thank you” to the City of Laredo and Laredo Sports Authority for helping to make the renovation possible – mostly by putting the taxpayers on the hook for about 80% of the renovation costs – the unveiling began. The Calzones’ GM pulled back a curtain that had been shielding view of a scale model of the stadium and invited guests and the media to take a closer look while he narrated a brief slideshow detailing the renovations.  Highlights include:

• 5,000 new seats, raising capacity to 40,000. Many of the new seats are in left field, though the team has added three rows of seats to the entire length of the right field concourse, just above the right field wall, with another row of standing-room only just behind those seats.
• An improved design to the concourse and plaza area above the right field wall, allowing fans to walk easily around the entire length of the stadium.
• An electronic scoreboard that runs about half the length of the right field wall as part of the wall itself.  The new scoreboard replaces the old hand-operated scoreboard that was part of the right-center wall.
• Increased concessions in the pavilion behind the concourse in both right and centerfield, as well as additional restroom facilities adjacent to the pavilion in centerfield.
• A canopy-style roof over the concourse in right field to provide for some relief from the blazing Laredo sun and occasional other elements, such as the monsoon-type rains the area is notorious for in mid-to-late September and early October.
• Special handicap sections in the lower left field seating area, as well as a special group section in the left field corner that can accommodate groups of up to 50 wheelchair-bound fans, their families and assistants.
• The movement of the bullpens from along the foul lines in the outfield to a two-tiered bullpen above and behind the centerfield wall.  The Calzones will use the lower bullpen nearest the wall, while the visitors will use the more elevated bullpen above and behind the Calzones’ bullpen, nearest to the concourse.
• Flood control measures along the former west side parking lot.
• A parking garage adjacent to the D entrance near the right field corner of the stadium.
• Some changes to the dimensions of the outfield walls, which will be explained below.

The Calzones revealed that prior to starting construction on the renovation, they partnered with RGVI Engineering Consultants to conduct wind tunnel tests on a 1:400-scale model of the stadium to determine the following:

Ballpark Effects

• The likely effects on batting average and home runs for both left- and right-handed batters when measured against a league average ballpark

Wind Engineering

• Structural design wind loads for the primary and secondary members supporting the stadium
• Cladding wind loads for the design of the exterior envelope of the stadium
• The effect on wind flow patterns related to immigrant smuggling activities on the Rio Grande River

Wind + Thermal Comfort

• The impact of wind flow patterns on the environment around the stadium
• Pedestrian comfort and safety
• Wind flow effect in relation to loose-fitting women’s blouses and the subsequent effect on entertainment value for male patrons

RGVI determined optimal dimensions to achieve the desired effects, which are detailed below

• Left line: 314’ (in 20’)
• Left field: 330’ (in 17’)
• Left-center: 378’ (in 10’)
• Center: 468’ (unchanged)
• Right-center: 399’ (out 10’)
• Right field: 371’ (out 30’)
• Right line: 361’ (out 30’)

The left field wall was lowered from 12’ to 7’ all the way across its length. The wall remains 12’ high in the deepest part of the ballpark, while the right field wall (known simply as The Wall) has been raised from 34’ to 40’ to accommodate the redesigned concourse and the new scoreboard. At 40’, The Wall is now the second-highest in the league, behind only the 45′ right field wall in Manchester’s Whiten Field.  The Wall now eclipses the right field wall at Palm Springs’ Elderberry Field, which is relegated to third-highest in the league at 38’.

This left corner wall moves in 20’ from 334’ to 314’. Elysian Fields will have the shortest distance down the left field line of any park in the PEBA with the exception of the Tempe Knights’ oddly-shaped but cavernous Knights Stadium.

In straightaway left field, the wall is 330’, in 17’ from its previous distance of 347’. This is the shortest distance to straightaway left of any park in the league.  New Jersey’s Mercer County Waterfront Park has the next shortest distance to left field at 338’.

In left-center, the fence have moved in 10’ to a distance of 378’. Only three ballparks are shorter to left-center: Florida’s Farmer Field at 364’, Mercer County Waterfront Park at 370’, and Kalamazoo’s Portage Park at 377’.

At 468’, Elysian Fields remains unchanged in centerfield. It remains the second-deepest park in the league to dead center, exceeded only by the 483’ range at Knights Field.

Down the right field line, The Wall has been pushed back 30’ to a staggering distance of 361’. Only Bakersfield’s Chocolate Factory at Yum! Field is deeper down the right line at 385’. It’s also the fourth-longest distance in the league down either line, with the Chocolate Factory (365’) and Whiten Field (385’) having deeper distances down the left field line.

The Wall has also been pushed back 30’ in straightaway right to 371’.  Only West Virginia’s Allegheny Field (375’) and Connecticut’s Constitution Field (374’) are deeper to right.

In right-center, The Wall has been pushed back 10’ to 399’. It will be the sixth-deepest in the league to that part of the park, trailing only Knights Field at 454’, Aurora’s Northern Lights Park at 420’, Constitution Field at 411’, Allegheny Field at 408’, and Duluth’s Doyle Buhl Stadium at 402’.

With the renovation, Elysian Fields figures to become, by far, the most difficult park in the PEBA for left-handed batters to hit a home run in.  Only Bakersfield’s Chocolate Factory at Yum! Field may be a more difficult environment for left-handed hitters.

Canton’s Svab Memorial Stadium and New Orleans’s New Frontier Park, as well as Farmer Field, Portage Park, and Mercer Counter Waterfront Park figure to be the only better environments for right-handed power hitters. New Frontier Park and Mercer County Waterfront Park join Omaha’s Mack Stadium and Knights Stadium as the only parks that figure to boast better overall conditions for right-handed batters.

Those in attendance seemed excited about the changes to the stadium and expressed great interest in seeing the finished product. At the end of the event, the Calzones announced that there would be an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony in late February prior to the start of spring training games.