Old Dominion University has been fundraising for renovations to its baseball stadium for the past 11 months.
As of Friday, “nearly” $18 million of the $20 million needed for the renovations to and expansion of current Bud Metheny Ballpark has been collected, a press release from the school revealed.
“We want this facility to be one that everyone in the community will be proud of,” ODU athletic director Wood Selig said in the release.”We want to give our coaches a facility that will help them recruit and our student-athletes a world-class training and competition venue.”
The revamped facility will be named the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex, thanks to a $2.5 million donation from local businessman Dennis Ellmer and his wife, Jan.
Old Dominion’s fundraising goal may be $20 million, but is not letting that number cap its efforts.
“Once we get to $20 million, we’re not stopping,” said John Vellines, an ODU athletic development officer. “We need to continue to upgrade the complex in the future in order to compete with the Power Five schools that we recruit against. And we still don’t know the final price tag.”
The renovations come almost two years after Old Dominion was unable to host an NCAA Tournament regional because the stadium did not meet NCAA standards.
The stadium is expected to have new locker rooms, new offices, improved seating behind home plate and expanded concessions and bathrooms among other things.
Populous — a world renowned sports architecture firm — has been announced as the company that will design the renovations.
Populous will be working with a familiar partner in Virginia Beach architecture firm Moseley. The two firms were also partners on the $72 million renovations to ODU’s football stadium.
Monarchs baseball coach Chis Finwood considers the recent installation of new LED lights at the stadium the unofficial phase one of the renovations.
Installed last Tuesday, the lights aren’t technically part of the stadium renovations that are planned to be completed before the 2025 season.
The new LED lighting system replaces the lights that have been in place since 1984 — the year after Bud Methney Ballpark opened.
“Our lighting system had long outlived its useful life,” Finwood said in a release. “To be honest, our lights were terrible. This is such a huge upgrade for us.”
The new lights were expected to be close to $900,000, but cost the school $650,000.
“I hate to say it’s like night and day because that’s a cliché, but it is,” Finwood said. “But there were times last season when I wondered if I needed glasses.”
Michael Sauls, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com
