To be constructed on a 15 acre site at the northern end of the 225 acre Bakersfield Commons project, the new 3,500-seat stadium will anchor a mixed-use development off Coffee Road between Rosedale Highway and Brimhall Road.
Forming the part of the Bakersfield Commons commercial development, the new ballpark will become the first-phase centerpiece of the Bakersfield Commons mixed-use development. Replacing Sam Lynn Ball Park, which opened in 1941, the new stadium will include eight luxury suites.
Based on the Fluor Field model, a 5,700-seat stadium built in 2006, the new stadium will be used for sporting events such as soccer and softball games and high school playoff games. The new stadium is designed to draw an average of 2,500 spectators per game, or about five times the typical Blaze home game at Sam Lynn.
Planned to be a community complex, the new stadium will also offer grass berms, picnic areas, a children’s playground and special event space along with 836 parking spaces. The new stadium will be accompanied by new restaurants, retail and entertainment such as a new movie theatre.
Access to the stadium would be from the Coffee Road exit of the Westside Parkway, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2013.
Bakersfield-based Wallace & Smith General Contractors will develop the facility. The Bakersfield Blaze plans to open the new stadium in 2014.
