Baltimore Business Journal: Orioles plan major upgrades for Camden Yards

[BradyBunch]

There are 3 things I think Orioles Park needs.

1) WiFi availability.

It's the 21st century and a society that does twitter, instagram and so on. Also could revolutionize vendering as an app could be created fans can download and order drinks, food and have them brought to you... oh and you can pay by card as well.

2). Rebuilt Camden Station.

Brick the area up. Think about it, it's really on the only area which ties in to Oriole Park that isn't bricked in some form. Hilton Hotel and that block is brick. Camden Station needs to have brick.

3). Glass exterior.

Oriole Park has a lot of "open" concourse area, just none facing the field. But what I suggest is closing up the 2nd and 3rd deck concourse areas and putting glass up.

4). This is a two part dealing with HP area.

Getting rid of the seats before the TV, Radio and Press area. This will give you a open view of the field behind home plate. Then you can also finally brick up that green, at least.

The other part is getting rid of the those "half" aisles. Put seats in and keep spacing even. Allows to add some seats if you are gonna do party decks in LF and RF.

I don't find major issues with Oriole Park. Just little things that were either what I thought was left undone or mix and match to be time lines.

[hoosiers]

The concourse in the new Philly stadium is really nice. Something like that at OPACY would compliment the RF area and the center field statues well.

I believe the new Yankee stadium has a nice restaurant/eating area in the upper deck that could be a nice attraction. Perhaps with outdoor seating to watch the game - I think several stadiums have this. That could be another nice addition as well.

[AdamK]

Less is more. I'd hate for something to change the aesthetic or add new ad space.

[CallMeBrooksie]

I have way too many awesome memories to ever co-sign on a huge change like an open concourse.

[fansince1988]

I'd like to see an upgrade of the main scoreboard. Even with the HD upgrade a few years ago, the lineups and other written information is small, crammed, and difficult to read. At the very least the structure needs a fresh coat of green paint, as it's faded badly.

[srock]

Add the open concourse, build another upperdeck bar to make tickets to CF easier to get, lose the obnoxious neon Dempsey's sign on the warehouse. If you hang anything on the warehouse, bring back the "2131" banners. I still remember going to a dozen or more games leading up to and including Sept. 6th, and the music blaring when they added another number to the banners. It still chokes me up a little. Fast forward to 1:46:05 when the music starts

P.S. Notice who pitched for the O's that game.

Article talks about this. They are looking at doing something with the LF and/or RF upperdeck sections because its so hard to fill those seats. Not necessarily a bar, but something.

I'm just happy they are actively evaluating the prospects for the stadium and intend to keep the overall feel of the park intact.

John Angelos seem far more hand on, with the things ownership should be involved with, as opposed to his father's meddling with the players.

[gmelson26]

One of my friends that went with me to Hangout Night (Section 12) is 6'4", maybe a half inch + that, and he was cramped to the point of being extremely uncomfortable the entire game. The row in front of us was way too close and the cup holders prevented him from adjusting in any way to get reasonably comfortable. No one was sitting to the right of us so he moved down a seat so he could sort of angle his knee a bit into the seat next to him but it wasn't an optimum solution. He never did get comfortable.

This is me.. I'm 6'3" with broad shoulders to boot. Just 2 inches added in eack row would really help. I have to hope there are a few empty seats near me just to get a modicum of comfort.

[DK745]

Adding Wi-Fi is a must. Any time I go and it's crowded it seems like my Verizon signal just dies. It may say 4G but I can't get anything to load, which stinks when trying to get an explanation of what's going on sometimes and can't load twitter to see any reports.

Also like others have said they need to adjust some of those seats where you have almost no room or the seats where you need to turn your head the entire time since the seats are facing the scoreboard. You end up seeing people standing up and moving more often than you see play on the field.

[Going Underground]

This is me.. I'm 6'3" with broad shoulders to boot. Just 2 inches added in eack row would really help. I have to hope there are a few empty seats near me just to get a modicum of comfort.

I am 6'2" and have the same problem. I have not noticed it with seats under the overhang. Has anyone noticed cramped or misaligned seats in the upper deck?

[PeteU]

Whatever they do, let's hope they do a better job than what they did in Cleveland with those weird shipping containers they placed over the Upper Deck:

Open concourses are highly overrated. They have them in Miami and I'm not at all impressed. Unless you're standing at the very edge of the seating bowl, the view of the field is still highly obstructed. You don't see much more of the field from the concession stands in an open concourse arrangement than if the field were completely blocked off. I'd rather them not tear apart the seating bowl to add something that doesn't add much to the entire game viewing experience. (Not to mention, you lose the entire "awe factor" experience when walking out through a tunnel and suddenly you're greeted by the entire field at once.)

Honestly, I don't know how much could be added to OPACY that would make it a better ballpark than it already is.

[itstim]

After attending a couple of games in Seattle last week (Yes, I saw the no hitter.), my buddy and I remarked that we liked the open concourse structure of Safeco Field and was probably the only thing we would change about Oriole Park. Nice to see that it is being considered.

Having an open concourse gives a better connection to the game when you have to get up to get some food or beer, or the go to the restroom. I have always hated that you completely feel disconnected from the game when you go to the concourse at Oriole Park.

[itstim]

Adding Wi-Fi is a must. Any time I go and it's crowded it seems like my Verizon signal just dies. It may say 4G but I can't get anything to load, which stinks when trying to get an explanation of what's going on sometimes and can't load twitter to see any reports.

Also like others have said they need to adjust some of those seats where you have almost no room or the seats where you need to turn your head the entire time since the seats are facing the scoreboard. You end up seeing people standing up and moving more often than you see play on the field.

I so with you on the Wi-Fi. It is pretty necessary with modern technology!

[osfan83]

I went to see the Orioles play at Comiskey Park last summer and I loved the open concourses. As nice of a feature as this would be at Camden Yards, I would prefer that more money be invested in the payroll

Not the same bucket of money.....these would be capital improvements.

[pell021]

I love OPACY, but an open concourse would just enhance everything that is great about it in my opinion. I was in Detroit the first series out of the All-Star break and spent an inning walking around while still being able to enjoy the game while not missing out on seeing a new stadium for the first time.

[AdamK]

Taking GretaK to a game tonight at Coors field so I will be evaluating that experience a bit closer. I know they have recently removed seats up top in favor of a beer garden type thing.

I'll say that one thing that I love about OPACY seems to be the emphasis on the game and its classic experience. Wouldn't want to sully that by turning it into an uber commercialized shopping experience like is possible.