The famous line from the movie, Field of Dreams, “If you build it, he will come” is apt for cities building minor league stadiums, but it’s not just one individual or even players coming. Other investors and spectators can give a good return on the investment, as it generally spreads beyond the bleachers.

Wilson, N.C., is one city that recently approved plans to build a $69 million minor league baseball stadium for the Carolina Mudcats. The Carolina Mudcats have been playing at Five County Stadium in Zebulon since 1991.

Assistant City Manager Rodger Lentz explained how Wilson got involved, stating it all started with a nearby recent public-private partnership where the city purchased buildings from BB&T, including its iconic towers, and put in a mixed-use building with a YMCA, apartment buildings and parking. Then BB&T looked to relocate and build a new facility and that resulted in a land swap, which made land available for the stadium.

Lentz said someone affiliated with the mixed-use building project had ties to the Milwaukee Brewers, who own the Mudcats and made the connections.

The minor league has new requirements — Professional Development League standards — that include all kinds of improvements to modernize facilities. One example Lentz gave was structures need to have female facilities since there are now female umpires. A lot of the PDL standards have to do with the team, but some include visitor enhancements as well, so a lot of minor league stadiums will need to upgrade.

Representatives from the team met with city officials, liked their vision and concepts, and they all signed an agreement, according to Lentz.

The stadium fits in with the city’s comprehensive plan adopted in 2010, in which the city made plans to clean up and redevelop older parts of the downtown. Officials wanted to protect some of the historic warehouses and clean up brownfield areas like the old Buttercup ice cream plant and Wilson Petroleum.

“We’d been acquiring land in the area, demolishing structures and doing environmental cleanups with EPA grants with the purpose of making it available for redevelopment,” Lentz said.

A lot of ideas were tossed around, including a civic center for events, but Lentz said, “Building a civic center is very expensive, and with no lessee, the city would have full operational expenses.”

However, with the stadium, the city has a fully guaranteed lessee with the Milwaukee Brewers, which will help pay a portion of the debt, and taxes from the stadium and entertainment complex will be “significant from a financial standpoint. We put together a pretty good deal, better than what we’d have with a civic center.”

There’s also “significant private development around the stadium — $220 million development in a multiphase entertainment complex. The first phase will include a hotel directly attached to the stadium and another mixed-use building directly tied to the concourse and outfield.”

Additional phases are not concrete at this point. With the hotel and mixed-use building, they can host concerts, banquets, meetings and events, and there will be views into the stadium and also nearby Whirligig Park.

Lentz explained right next door to where the stadium will be is Whirligig Park, which features very large kinetic structures by folk artist Vollis Simpson, who is recognized as the official folk artist of North Carolina.

According to the website, www.wilsonwhirligigpark.org, Simpson began making the 40- to 50-foot-high sculptures out of recycled industrial machinery on his farm, 11 miles outside of the city. After word got out on the internet, the farm attracted visitors from out of state and all over North Carolina. He continued making the whirligigs until six months before his death at age 94 in 2013. In 2010, a plan was announced to create the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in historic downtown Wilson. Reportedly, Simpson was delighted that his work would survive.

Whirligig Park is also home to Wilson’s farmer’s market and a small concert green with a stage.

“It’s become like the living room for that part of downtown,” Lentz said.

There’s additional park land between the park and the future stadium, and they’ll all be connected. “Whirligig Park is unique,” Lentz said, noting nowhere else has Vollis’s unique pieces. “It sits across the street from tobacco factories, which have been turned into apartments and includes a Vollis Simpson museum and gift shop.”

Benefits to the city

Lentz came on board with the city in 2007, and the city manager joined a year and a half to two years prior to him. He said when they “looked at downtown private investment, there was very little.”

There was not a lot of investment in the large center city, the industrial historic districts or the traditional minority communities between downtown and the U.S. 301 highway corridor. They figured in 2010 there was $1 million or less invested between public and private investments in the downtown, and they worked for a long time to bring in investments downtown.

“Since that time, there’s been steady growth, and these are finished projects — the investment will be north of $60 million in a year’s time,” he said.

Lentz noted the stadium “is another step in the direction of revitalizing our center city. Not only will we see new buildings go up — hotels and apartments being built around the stadium — but also historic buildings are being restored, sometimes by local investors, now that may have been written off before.”

Starting investment downtown attracted local people and others outside the area who became interested, so now there’s a continued investment, bringing historic buildings back and turning them into breweries, coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries and retail shops.

Lentz said, “We’re seeing activity because of a renewed focus on downtown.”

He shared that activity and investment are “spilling out to neighborhoods surrounding downtown.”

The city received a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery $10 million grant in 2015, which helped improve the U.S. 301 highway infrastructure and stormwater and made it more pedestrian-friendly. According to a report online, the following year, the North Carolina Board of Transportation added $6.5 million toward expanding the improvements.

“The stadium is one piece of a much larger picture of revitalizing the center part of the city and making sure it’s an attractive place to locate, both from an economic standpoint for new industry and for workers and visitors,” he said.

City officials were “making very active decisions and bold decisions to improve the quality of life and have exciting things for our residents to do.”

Naturally, all this redevelopment is bringing more tax revenue to the city. Lentz said Wilson just received reevaluation numbers. “Our downtown was the highest depreciation area in the county. Property values went up over 100% in an eight-year period. That’s very exciting to see.”

The county’s average increase is 52%. “That’s a testament to the success that people are seeing in the downtown economy and market,” he said. “A lot of people are putting money into improvements of the buildings. We’re very excited.”

Changing economies and downtowns

He pointed out that the city’s economy has changed in a different direction over the years. In the early 1900s, Wilson was known for its tobacco market, which was huge. It had tobacco auction warehouses downtown, and many people were coming into the downtown area for the auction and then shopping in stores. That has changed, and like most of the United States, Wilson suburbanized, built malls and, like a lot of places, forgot about its downtown.

“That’s changing now as people have rediscovered downtowns. I think people want that authentic experience in a downtown that comes with local coffee shops, a walk to the park and a library — it’s the center of activity.” But, Lentz added, “This doesn’t happen by accident. It takes really good planning and a community’s commitment to doing its part to provide infrastructure to ensure an actual place for development to occur.”

The general obligation bond used to finance the project pledges non-local tax dollars, so it doesn’t affect the tax rate. It uses revenue coming in from the state, like sales tax, for instance. The private partnerships will provide new tax revenue. Lentz said the county is also participating by pledging taxes from redevelopment to the project.

“We have a great relationship with the county — all these things are tied together, plus the lease payment from the team will all go toward repaying the bond,” he said.

Lentz was asked about the report that the new stadium will have 2,000 fewer seats than the current Mudcats stadium. He said the Five County Stadium was built for a double A team and the Carolina Mudcats are a single A team. Stadiums are also changing. Aside from fixed seats, the new stadium will have club-level seats, outdoor bar areas, a grassy berm for seating and a walkway around the stadium with a drink rail.

“It was very important to us that there will be views from places in the stadium where you can view Whirligig Park — you can be sitting watching the game and also see Whirligigs. That’s a unique thing no other minor league stadium has.”

He suggested, “How we consume sports has changed.”

Five County Stadium, for example, is on an interstate exit and is surrounded by a gravel parking lot. Across the street is an industrial food service site and a water treatment plant behind the stadium. Lentz said it was basically the same setup as the ballpark he attended growing up — off the interstate, surrounded by a parking lot. People drive in, attend the game and drive out.

“We’ve seen this movement to build minor league stadiums or football or basketball arenas happening mostly in downtowns. Why? So, people can come to the game and hang out before or after by going to dinner, to a bar for a drink or to shop at the stores,” he said.

“It’s more of an experience versus just a consumer of the game. The stadium becomes more than just about baseball — you can have a concert there or there are other things to do before or after a game. On a Saturday day game, you can go to our farmer’s market, then go to the game,” he suggested. “Or do kid’s activities — bouncy houses, whatever. It becomes more of a festival atmosphere with the game at the center. There are all kinds of possibilities when you’re thinking about the stadium existing in a downtown area.”

Construction

Lentz said Wilson has some buildings to demolish and is helping relocate some shops first. Afterward, it will upgrade infrastructure — water, sewer or stormwater. While currently sufficient, Lentz noted, “They’re older lines, so we want to get it right.”

The infrastructure work is slated to begin in mid-April, and then the contractor will begin preparations for the building pad in late May.

“You’ll start seeing activity in the area mid-April, and we plan to be open for the first pitch in spring 2026,” he said.

According to Lentz, the stadium will be built first, but he believed the hotel will be built concurrently. Although the hotel may not be finished for baseball’s opening day, the structure should be up. There’s a similar goal for the multiuse family housing, which won’t be complete but its structure should be built.

Increasing interest

Since the public announcement was made about the new stadium, Lentz’s phone and those of other city officials have been ringing off the hook.

“It’s generated all kinds of new interest in developing downtown,” he said. “It’s doing what it’s intended to do even before the first shovel hits the dirt. I think this model is sound. We’re not the first in this arena. There’s been a lot of successes — way more than failures in this type of work.”

He again said the nearby Whirligig Park with over 30 pieces will create a very unique experience and said the park is bringing in 200,000 visitors every year.

“I’m very pleased with where we are at this point. I’m very pleased with the progress that’s being made — all signs are positive,” he said.

He reported that he and a lot of the staff are on phone calls weekly, coordinating with the stadium team and the private development team so everything can go as smoothly as possible. “We’ve done all our due diligence to be as careful as we can; hopefully everything will go off without a hitch, and we’ll be playing baseball in two years in our new stadium! We’ll know how successful we are by the spring of 2026,” he said. “This gives you a sense of what a stadium can become.”

Next Article: Adaptive reuse breathes new life into cities