The Durham Bulls continue progress on major renovations for the 2014 season.
The Durham Bulls will open their 2014 season at home on Thursday, April 3rd, but the ballpark is already making headlines. Over the past several months the DBAP has been undergoing a massive renovation and inspiring other cities with the progress the team has made over its decades in the Bull City.
Christine Adamczyk has been recording the renovation progress through photography. She recently posted a story on TriangleInFocus, including some of the 4,000 photos she’s taken of the process. “Extreme Makeover for the DBAP” posted on March 8, 2014.
“They will give you an idea of what was happening behind the scaffolding, fences and walls,” writes Admczyk of her ballpark photos.
In the article she also links to even more photos.
In Columbia, South Carolina’s The State, Ron Morris penned a story about the DBAP and its role in revitalizing Durham. He also credits American Tobacco with the renaissance of the downtown.
“Durham Bulls Athletic Park has made downtown a cool place to be” tracks the history of the Bulls in Durham, their move from the DAP to the DBAP, and how the Bulls are an integral part of the emergence of Durham as a desired area.
Morris interviewed Bill Kalkhof, the recently retired CEO and leader of Downtown Durham, Inc, for the piece.
“’A lot of cities have asked me, what can you directly say the ballpark was responsible for?’ says Kalkhof, who was the front man in getting the $18.5 million ballpark built in 1995 when he was president of Downtown Durham, Inc. ‘Well, I say, everything. Everything from the railroad tracks to the (Durham) freeway.
‘In this entire American Tobacco complex, you can draw a straight line and say, the ballpark was the catalyst to get every one of these projects done, period. The theater, all of these office buildings, one million square feet of American Tobacco.’”
Morris also quotes American Tobacco Vice President of Real Estate Michael Goodmon in the article.
“’As a company and a family, we have a fundamental belief that our company cannot be successful unless the community around us is successful,’ Michael Goodmon says as he sits in his office located in the middle of the American Tobacco Campus.”
Tickets are now on sale for the Bulls’ 2014 opener against the Gwinett Braves. Purchase opening day tickets online here.
