Fans, Twins wowed by new MiLB stadium

Between the time Riverfront Stadium in Wichita, Kan., was completed and the time it officially opened to fans a year later, the entire world just about turned upside down for the team it was built to host.

Not only did the COVID-19 pandemic cause the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League season, but Wichita's newly arrived Minor League team, the Wind Surge, changed affiliates and dropped a level before it even played a single game in its new city -- and its new ballpark.

The $75 million stadium finally opened to fans on April 10, 2021, for a collegiate game between Wichita State and the University of Houston. A month later, on May 11, players assigned to the Minnesota Twins' new Double-A affiliate stepped onto their home field for the first time.

It proved worth the wait.

"When the people came in, you saw them just go, 'Wow,'" ownership partner and Wind Surge CEO Jordan Kobritz said. "I think the standard line was, 'I never thought I would see something like this in Wichita.'"

For all the work that went into expediting the planning and construction of the new ballpark so it would be ready for the 2020 Minor League season, housing a team that left behind an aging facility half a country away in the suburbs of New Orleans, there was no way to truly predict what the reception would be from fans, particularly considering all of the context.

Firstly, when the former New Orleans Baby Cakes moved to Wichita and became the Wind Surge, they were expecting to remain the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. Instead, following the reorganization of the Minor Leagues, a fanbase hoping for a Triple-A team ended up instead with a Double-A club -- which understandably caused some frustration.

Compounding matters was the fact that the Wind Surge weren't just any Double-A club; their new affiliation was with the Twins, a division rival for a city deep in Kansas City Royals territory.

And finally, the stadium was built on the site of the old Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, a historic ballpark with sentimental value to some constructed in 1934 as part of the New Deal-era Works Progress Administration that hosted affiliated and unaffiliated baseball until it was demolished in 2018.

"It's just hard to redo," said Tim Grubbs, director of broadcasting and team travel and a 26-year veteran of the Minor Leagues. "I mean, that just wasn't going to happen. So there were a lot of naysayers from that perspective. But I think we've won everybody over."

To help overcome all that inertia, Kobritz and the Wind Surge's ownership group focused heavily on taking a big stride into the modern fan experience -- social areas for congregation, wider concourses, wider seats and more legroom for comfort and accessibility, improved restrooms and concessions, even a bar and a kids' play area in the outfield, among a slew of other improvements in the facility that seats 10,025.

At the same time, just as much focus went into the behind-the-scenes amenities on the players' side -- vastly improved weight rooms and indoor batting cages and a spacious clubhouse -- first used by cornerstone Twins of the future like Jordan Balazovic, Jose Miranda and Austin Martin.

"It's a great job on the parts of the park that the fans interact with, but they also did an awesome job with the amenities underneath and clubhouse and batting cages and weight rooms and things that fans don't interact with," Twins farm director Alex Hassan said. "We've been really thrilled with attention to detail underneath, and the amenities that we have available to help our players develop. So, we couldn't be happier with the results. And it's certainly benefited us to this point."

"When the team moved in back in late April, and seeing the guys' reactions as they were coming off the bus, it was incredible," Grubbs said. "It brings so much excitement to see all these young players walk in and then their eyes just brighten."

Kobritz, who played a leading role in the design and construction of the stadium, notes that the group paid attention to as many little details as possible in helping the stadium be a thriving home for the modern game. For instance, he pounded the table for the inclusion of a third clubhouse in the ballpark for use in tournaments or for female staff members who would benefit from having their own space.

Similarly, even before updated facilities standards came out to outline such needs, the Wind Surge made sure there was a door between the adjacent mascot room and umpires' room so that the mascot room could be converted for use for female umpires if necessary as well.

"Just standing up and saying, 'Over my dead body will you take that away,'" Kobritz said with a laugh.

When the ballpark was first conceived, the idea was that Riverfront Stadium could also help serve as a catalyst for the continued development of the historic Delano District of Wichita.

The Wind Surge ownership group, with Kobritz again in a leading role, has emerged from the pandemic shutdown with plans for a mixed-use development in the surrounding area to complement some new corporate headquarters, apartments and hotels in the region around the Arkansas River, with plans from the city for a multi-modal transit station and parking garage in the area as well, Kobritz said.

"Three years from now, you won't recognize that area," Kobritz said.

With the promotion schedule in full swing, fireworks shows following Wind Surge games, a state-of-the-art facility and a fanbase that has responded well to the new ballpark in its first year hosting the team, Kobritz also notes that the Wichita organization "couldn't have done better than Minnesota" in its new affiliation (not counting Kansas City, of course).

And considering the most important goal for the Twins is in best developing their next waves of prospects, the player-development side is thrilled with the arrangement, too.

"We want to have the right infrastructure to help develop our players to the best of our abilities," Hassan said. "We don't feel like we're battling on any of those fronts and just know we have a consistent place to make players better, and that's ultimately our job. And the setup in Wichita has made that a lot easier."