Baseball is back in full swing at the newly renamed HomeTrust Park, home of the Asheville Tourists.
A sellout crowd packed the stands, eager to get a first look at the upgraded ballpark.
Morris Anderson attended the game with friends. He told BPR he loves the improved venue.
“Compared to how it looked last year compared to now, definitely a huge upgrade,” Anderson said. “I know a lot of people in the community have mixed feelings about it (HomeTrust Park), but I think the innovation is great. This place definitely needed an upgrade for sure.”
The 102-year-old stadium, formerly known as McCormick Field, underwent an 18-month, nearly $40 million renovation. Some of the most noticeable changes include:
- An expanded team store, improved ticketing areas, and a new entry plaza
- Murals by local artists showcased throughout the ballpark
- Home team clubhouse improvements, including new women’s locker rooms and upgraded weight spaces, restrooms, kitchen and dining areas
- Renovated bathrooms throughout the park
- An upgraded sound system and a new videoboard in the outfield
The renovations were necessary to comply with Major League Baseball’s 2021 requirements to modernize its minor league system, according to Brian DeWine, the team’s owner and president. Without the changes, Major League Baseball threatened to move the team to another city. The Tourists are the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros.
The Tourists lost their home opener to the Greenville Drive 8-4. Asheville continues its opening week at home tonight at 6:35.
Name Change, lease change, funding change
At an April 14 City Council meeting, members passed a resolution authorizing the renaming of Lewis McCormick Field to HomeTrust Park.
The decision to rename the ballpark has garnered mixed reactions from members of the community. Rebecca Strange attended the home opener and told BPR she understands the concerns but supports the name change.
“ I understand the uproar about it, to keep the history of it, but it really doesn't bother me at the end of the day,” Strange said. “It's where Babe Ruth still played, where Russell Wilson still played. At the end of the day, it's still the same ballpark, just a different name.”
The Tourists proposed the change after securing a naming rights sponsor, Asheville-based HomeTrust Bank. City documents did not list how much the bank paid the Tourists for the naming rights. That’s in part because the leasing agreement the city signed last year specifically says “Tenant shall not be required to submit or otherwise share the agreement for Naming Rights with City,” according to the Asheville Watchdog.
The new lease, which took effect this year, requires the team to pay the city an average of $470,000 per year over 20 years, said Chris Corl, the city’s Community and Regional Entertainment Director.
The organization previously only paid $1 a year to rent the facility. Corl said that along with the new lease, the Tourist’s guaranteed they would keep professional baseball in the city.
The team also agreed to hold non-baseball events at the stadium during the off-season, Corl added.
“We're working in partnership with the team, but they have to bring 35,000 people to non-baseball events every year,” Corl told BPR after a stadium tour on April 20. “If they don't, there's actually a financial penalty and the lease payment goes up. So, they're incentivized to bring in non-baseball events.”
The total expense for the renovations to the ballpark over the life of the debt service is $55.6 million. That cost will be shared by the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, Buncombe County Government, the Tourists Baseball Club, and the city of Asheville.
