CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — Improvements are being made to Whataburger Field, just in time for the 2024 season opener.
Brady Ballard, the Hooks' General Manager, said his main goal is to make the field better and fresh. And a fresh start is exactly how he and his team plan to hit the field this year.
Last Tuesday, Ballard presented updates to city leaders during a council meeting on recent and upcoming improvements to the facility.
“This past off-season, we did a lot of steel remediation," Ballard said. "That was a 3-month project, which was a lot. The last two years, we replaced over 20 HVACs up on the rooftop, that’s about 50% of them.”
A company out of Houston, which handles maintenance with Minute Maid Park and Constellation Field, was called in to help. They primed, painted, and pressure-washed metal decks, handrails, columns, and the scoreboard. In addition, the pedestrian walkover bridge was fully replaced and restructured.
"This includes the clubhouse, restrooms, things of that nature, expansion joints," Ballard said. "Not a lot of glamour type pieces, but for the functionality of the facility and the underbelly of the facility, which a lot of people don’t see, just things to help make the facility operate a lot sooner.”
Stadium seats are also being upgraded, along with replacing nearly 300 lights in the facility. There’s also a surprise coming soon to the youth field, making it more inclusive for all.
You probably wonder how much all of this cost. We didn't get a definite number, but Ballard tells us it comes with a lot of zeros. But despite the money, he emphasized that this is all to make Whataburger Field better for everyone.
“We’re here to try to provide the best family environment that we can, the best baseball environment that we can," Ballard said. "It’s a labor of love for sure. We enjoy being here, we’re here a lot and we’re just excited to get the season started.”
There are many other improvement projects in the works at Whataburger Field, but they won't be announced until later.
The season opener for the hook is Friday against the Midland Rockhounds at 7:05 p.m..
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
