Renowned Architectural Team Selected to Design New Omaha Baseball Stadium

Three architecture firms will begin their own road to Omaha after having been selected in June by Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey to design the new Omaha Baseball Stadium, the future home for the College World Series.
Led by Omaha-based HDR, Inc. as architects and engineers of record, the team also includes nationally recognized ballpark designers HOK Sport as design architect and DLR Group as associate architect.

HDR and HOK Sport have been working together on the project since November 2007, assisting the Mayor’s select committee with pre-design services including studies for the renovation of the existing Rosenblatt Stadium, the evaluation of eight potential new stadium sites, and programming and conceptual design of the current new stadium option. HDR brings an intimate knowledge of the Omaha landscape, having been a fixture in Omaha architecture for more than 90 years. DLR Group has designed more than 40 ballparks, and HOK Sport has designed more than 150 ballparks across the country.

“Getting to Omaha is truly the pinnacle of the collegiate student-athlete experience,” said Martin DiNitto, AIA, HOK Sport principal. “We look forward to designing a new ballpark that will represent the romance and the rivalry, the spirit and the experience of all that is the College World Series.”

While HOK Sport and HDR have provided a preliminary vision for the ballpark’s look, the team will work closely with the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA), as the owner to refine the ballpark’s final design. The $140 million ballpark will include 24,000 seats and 28 luxury suites; an open, 360-degree walk-around concourse; five team clubhouses, practice facilities and administrative offices.

MECA will also oversee design and construction of the ballpark, which is expected to break ground in the fall of 2008. It is scheduled to open in April 2010.