Braves minor league baseball updates on Columbus move. What will new Golden Park look like?

The $50 million project to upgrade Golden Park into the new home of the Atlanta Braves’ Class AA minor league baseball affiliate took a major step forward last week while the effort to fill the Columbus stadium with fans next season moved ahead this week as well.

Selective demolition of parts of the 98-year-old Golden Park started April 10. This week, franchise owner Diamond Baseball Holdings of New York, launched on the ColumbusGaBaseball.com website links to registration for season tickets and club seats.

The website also has a link for hiring entry-level and managerial positions for marketing and ticket sales/services staff.

Populous, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is the architecture firm for the Golden Park renovation, and Brasfield & Gorrie, headquartered in Birmingham and with an office in Columbus, is the construction contractor.

Pete Laven, general manger of the Braves’ Class AA team in Pearl, Mississippi, will continue as the GM of the franchise after it moves to Columbus. He was in town this week to check on the progress toward playing professional minor league baseball here for the first time since 2008.

Laven spoke with the Ledger-Enquirer during his visit. The following Q&A comprises excerpts from that interview, edited for brevity and clarity:

Now that Golden Park officially is a construction zone for the renovation, how are you feeling?

“It’s exciting to be able to see this transformation over the next 12 months. The calendar is going to flip very quickly, maybe too quickly, but it’s going to be interesting for everybody to watch. … It’s a landmark in the process. So much of the credit has to go to the city leaders for getting it to this point, and now you can really envision that first pitch being thrown by a Double-A Atlanta Braves player here in April 2025.”

Why do you think the return of pro baseball in Columbus is a smart move?

“The first thing is the city’s and community’s support. There’s been stadiums throughout the history of minor league baseball that were built without that. … The best thing for me that I’ve noticed since accepting this role is the knowledge that the people have here about minor league baseball. … They want it to succeed, and with the partnership now with the Atlanta Braves, it’s something that hasn’t occurred in the past with the other incarnations of minor league baseball here. It’s set up to succeed.”

What’s the key to making this effort a long-term success?

“That’ll be one of our biggest responsibilities as a staff, as a front office, to continually create a fresh fan experience, not to rest on our laurels after one year. From Day 1, cater to the fan. [Atlanta Braves general manager] Alex Anthopoulos takes care of the players on the field. The Atlanta Braves do a great job of player development. Our duty is to create a great fan experience every night. That can involve the in-game promotions, the food we serve, being creative with our menu, and the music we play, the theme nights. That has to constantly evolve. We have 69 (home) games every year. So it’s plenty of opportunity to do so, but we never want the experience to become stagnant.”

How would you describe the experience fans can expect?

“We’re going to make it attractive for fans of all ages. From a Kids Zone to group and party areas for adults and companies to come out and treat their employees, clients, coworkers, friends. Even though Columbus is a great baseball town, you can’t just cater to the diehard baseball fan. You have to make it a fun night out for the moms, the grandmas, little kids. We understand that people coming to our games, even though they’re going to be Braves fans, a lot of them may not live or die with the wins and losses. If they leave the stadium after the game and don’t know the final score, it’s almost like we’ve done our job.”

Why have you made minor league baseball your career for more than 30 years?

“I did my internship, a long time ago, in Little Rock, Arkansas, for the, at the time, the Cardinals’ Double-A team. … Immediately loved it … I sent my resume to all 28 or 30 major league teams at the time, and then collected all the rejection letters that came back with their nice letterhead. Ended up going back to Arkansas for a second year. Probably during that second year I realized I love minor league baseball. I want my career to be in minor league baseball. I’d love to some day run my own minor league team. I think it’s the intimacy with the fans, with the community, getting to know people on a grassroots level, which you probably don’t get with a major league team. … I’ve never regretted that decision.”

What have you learned about Columbus?

“I’ve been incredibly impressed, from the city leaders to the folks I meet at the coffee shops — just an incredible vibe here that, honestly, I didn’t know anything about. What they’ve done with Uptown, the beautiful Riverwalk, the things for people to do, the out-of-town visitors. I’ve been talking with several friends outside of Columbus, and they’re like, ‘Well, we can’t wait to check this out, not only the new stadium, but the city surrounding it sounds great.’ And then other people are like, ‘Yeah, I’ve been to Columbus. It’s fantastic.’ … Much credit to the city leaders and developers for what they’ve done. Every visit I take, I seem to find another great area in town here, another nook.”

What’s been most surprising for you about Columbus?

“I love the architecture downtown, the warehouses, blending the old with the new. It’s got a great young adult population. We want our stadium to be a date-night crowd as well, just a great mix of people, and it seems like it’s not one of those cities where people might go to college and never come back. It seems like a place where people start their careers as well.”

In this Golden Park renovation, it seems you’re honoring the historic parts while making it a modern facility.

“That’s my favorite thing about this project, just the history that already exists here, the brick, the columns, the entryways. Much of that will stay. I think being on the same site of the venerable, 100-year stadium is very cool to me, and at the same time we’ll also have the ‘wow’ factor. When people walk in, it’ll look completely different, from the state-of-the-art video board in the outfield, to the party areas on both sides, and my favorite thing also is that it’s still going to be compact. It’s not going to be this vast arena. It’s going to feel like Golden Park. You’re going to be right on top of the action. It’s going to have the same sight lines, … but it’ll have different and better amenities.”

When will the team’s name be announced?

“It’s going to be announced this summer. … It’s a frequently asked question. It’s going to be a name that people here identify with and hopefully fall in love with.”