Segra Stadium

Segra Stadium is a baseball park in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It is the home of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers, a Minor League Baseball team playing in the Carolina League. It opened in 2019 and seats up to 4,786 people. The site is immediately surrounded by the Airborne & Special Operations Museum, Fayetteville station, and the Prince Charles Hotel.

Not to be confused with Segra Park or Segra Field.

Segra Stadium
LocationHay Street
Fayetteville, North Carolina
United States
Coordinates35.055914°N 78.883382°W / 35.055914; -78.883382
OwnerCity of Fayetteville
OperatorCity of Fayetteville
Capacity4,786
Field sizeLeft Field: 319 ft (97 m)
Left-Center Field: 372 ft (113 m)
Center Field: 400 ft (120 m)
Right-Center Field: 382 ft (116 m)
Right Field: 330 ft (100 m)
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke groundAugust 21, 2017[1]
Built2017–2019
OpenedApril 18, 2019[2]
Construction cost$37.8 million[3]
ArchitectPopulous
SfL+a Architects[4]
Structural engineerLHC Structural Engineers, PC[5]
Services engineerHenderson Engineers, Inc.[5]
General contractorBarton Malow[6]
Tenants
Fayetteville Woodpeckers (CL) 2019–present

History

Fayetteville lacked minor league baseball since the Cape Fear Crocs moved to Lakewood, New Jersey after the 2000 season. The team is now called the Lakewood BlueClaws, the Class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.[7]

On August 17, 2016, the City of Fayetteville signed a memorandum of understanding with the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball to keep a Class A team club at the ballpark for 30 years.[8] As part of the deal, Barton Malow contracted 83 percent of the construction to local and Small Disadvantaged Business Enterprise contractors.[9]

In conjunction with the ballpark financing, Prince Charles Holdings plans to invest $15 million toward renovating the adjoining Prince Charles Hotel into apartments. The company also intends to invest an additional $60 million toward a hotel, 150 residential units, 10,000 sq ft (930 m2) of retail space, and a parking garage at the same stadium site.[10][11]

Groundbreaking took place on August 21, 2017.[1] On February 7, 2019, the team announced a naming rights agreement with Segra, an independent fiber bandwidth company, to call the facility Segra Stadium.[12] A ribbon cutting and tours were held on April 13.[13]

The ballpark's first game was held on April 18, 2019, between the Woodpeckers and the Carolina Mudcats.[2] Carolina defeated Fayetteville, 7–5, before a sellout crowd of 6,202 people.[14] Fayetteville starting pitcher Enoli Paredes recorded the stadium's first strikeouts as he retired the first three Mudcats batters on strikes to open the game.[15] The first hit was a single in the bottom of the first inning off the bat of Fayetteville's Bryan De La Cruz.[15] The first home run was hit in the top of the second inning by Carolina's Payton Henry.[15]

Other uses

Besides being the home field for the Astros affiliate, the ballpark hosted the Big South Conference Baseball Tournament as a neutral site May 21–25, 2019, and plans to do so again in 2021.[16] The 2020 tournament at Segra Stadium was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.[17]

From February 28 to March 1, 2020, Segra Stadium hosted the Armed Forces Invitational Baseball Tournament between Army West Point Black Knights, the Air Force Academy Falcons, and Campbell University Fighting Camels.[18] In the round-robin style tournament, each team played a two-game series with the others over the course of three days. All three teams split both series, going 2-2 on the weekend.[19]

References
  1. Speddon, Zach (August 22, 2017). "Fayetteville Breaks Ground on New Downtown Ballpark". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  2. Sheridan, Maura (April 18, 2019). "Mudcats Spoil Segra Stadium Debut". Fayetteville Woodpeckers. Minor League Baseball. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  3. Spedden, Zach (March 20, 2017). "Fayetteville Ballpark Budget: $37.8 Million". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  4. Spedden, Zach (January 19, 2017). "Fayetteville Developers Request More Time". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  5. Toon, Kimberly (August 15, 2017). "Invitation to Bid". City of Fayetteville, NC. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  6. Barksdale, Andrew (February 14, 2017). "Fayetteville City Council Directs Negotiations for Stadium Construction". The Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  7. "Cape Fear Crocs Strike Out In Fayetteville". WRAL-TV. Capitol Broadcasting Company. July 7, 2000. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  8. "Minor League Baseball Stadium Project". City of Fayetteville, NC. December 13, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  9. "Local, Disadvantaged Contractors Scoring Well in Fayetteville Baseball Stadium Bids". The Fayetteville Observer. December 26, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  10. Barksdale, Andrew (August 15, 2016). "Hay Street baseball stadium: Pivotal vote this week on $35M project". The Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  11. Barksdale, Andrew (December 13, 2016). "Fayetteville, Houston Astros sign 30-year agreement to bring baseball to downtown". The Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  12. Hill, Benjamin (February 7, 2019). "Batting Around: New and improved for 2019". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  13. Spedden, Zach (March 15, 2019). "Segra Stadium Ribbon Cutting Set for April 13". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  14. "Box Score: Carolina vs. Fayetteville - April 18, 2019". Minor League Baseball. April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  15. "Game Log: Carolina vs. Fayetteville - April 18, 2019". Minor League Baseball. April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  16. "New Fayetteville Ballpark Lands Big South Tournament". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  17. "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns". NCAA.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  18. "The Armed Forces Invitational Baseball Tournament". MiLB.com. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  19. "Foster Earns 100th Win at Army". Army West Point. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
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