Well, they promised “Wow! factor,” and this is what it looks like. The Durham Bulls announced the details of not one but three video boards that will be among the most visible results of the $19 million stadium upgrade now under way.
In May, the city of Durham and the baseball club agreed on a new 20-year lease agreement. The terms included the city agreeing to cut the team’s annual rent and contribute $12 million toward repairs and upgrades to the 18-year-old stadium. The Bulls agreed to take over the operating costs of the stadium.
The primary display of wow, seen above in an image supplied by the Bulls, will be 25.4 feet high and 63 feet long. The mechanical scoreboard will be rebuilt and installed in a location closer to the center field berm, as seen above.
The second piece of wow factor will be an LED strip running the length of the remaining outfield wall, from center to right field. It will be 327.6 feet long and 6.5 feet high.
The third piece of wow is the “club level fascia display,” which will be 3.2 feet high and run 119.8 feet. It will be installed above the new club level within the main seating bowl.
According the team press release, the new Blue Monster display will be three times larger than the old one. Dallas-based TS Sports, “a high-end, LED (light emitting diode) total solutions firm,” is the contractor on the project, and the new screens will contain a total of 3,838,464 LEDs.
In addition to the video enhancements, the sound is getting a boost. The press release doesn’t supply details, but it promises “an improved sound system with an increased number of speakers will be installed throughout the stadium.”
Hockey fans, your summer entertainment is here.
