The Texas A&M System Board of Regents are set to vote next Thursday on whether to make a new baseball player development center at Blue Bell Park a separate $28.3 million project with a Fiscal Year 2025 start date, per the posted agenda briefing for the meeting in College Station, Texas.
The A&M System’s FY 2025-29 Capital Plan already includes $80 million for a Blue Bell Park renovation project, which has a FY 2026 start date. If the proposal is approved, it would be amended to add the baseball player development center project and appropriate $2.83 million for pre-construction services and related project costs. The estimated annual debt service is approximately $5.77 million, with the funding source coming from gifts.
To complete the project, A&M would demolish the existing batting cage facility at Blue Bell Park and construct the new player development center in its place. Per the agenda briefing, the new player development center would include new batting cages, a pitching lab, sports medicine facilities, strength and conditioning spaces, team meeting rooms, a home clubhouse, equipment and laundry services, new player locker room, support lockers for staff and student managers and coaches lockers. The existing field lighting and playing surface at Blue Bell Park would be replaced as well.
In November 2022, regents approved the amendment of the A&M System’s FY 2023-27 Capital Plan to include $60 million for the Blue Bell Park renovation project with a FY 2025 start date. Last May, they approved expanding the project to $80 million and delayed the start date to FY 2026.
The initial approval of the Blue Bell Park renovation project included the renovation of several player amenities (including the locker room, hitting and pitching facilities, weight room, team meeting spaces, bullpens, and coaches offices) and premium seating renovations (including the current club, concourses, restrooms, additional reserved seating and additional food service areas).
Here is what the project justification section of the proposal read: “The proposed project will include a new player development facility to provide an improved player experience while increasing recruitment capabilities. For Texas A&M to continue to be a premier baseball program, this renovation must happen to allow continued recruitment of the best athletes in the country.”
Under their first-year head coach, Michael Earley, the Aggies received the top spot in three of the most prominent college baseball preseason rankings: D1Baseball, Perfect Game and Baseball America.
A&M will open its 2025 baseball season with a three-game home series against Elon, beginning on Feb. 14 in Blue Bell Park.
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