We heard earlier this week during a 1360 AM interview with President Mike Dee that the Padres were making improvements to Petco Park. Today at Padres FanFest, Executitive Chairman Ron Fowler said he committed $10M a year for 5 years for maintenance and improvement projects for the ballpark. Fowler said that Dee had plenty of ideas on how to spend the money.
One project that was both easy to miss and hard to ignore was the resurfacing of the floors along the park's concourses. Most fans don't take notice of the surface their walking on, but the ever present fumes were a constant reminder today. The new resin surface won't collect or show dirt as much as the previous surface did and will provide better traction for guests during inclement weather and soda spills.
There's also a plan to replace the sound system at Petco Park. Today the sound kept cutting out during the scheduled Q&A sessions. I overheard Fowler tell another guest while a session was delayed, that this is why the Padres needed a new system.
Another improvement that Dee mentioned during his radio interview was a 50% bigger video board in the Park at the Park. He made it sound like the screen had already been replaced but upon close inspection we determined that it was still the same old sh_tty one. In the Q&A, Dee said it will be installed before Opening Day.