A’s Unveil Las Vegas Strip Stadium Renderings
The future Las Vegas home of the Oakland Athletics began to take shape on Tuesday with the release of new artist renderings of the proposed $1.5 billion, 33,000-capacity stadium.
The venue is meant to provide an outdoor feel while also featuring views of the city’s skyline. Traditional baseball pennants served as inspiration for the roof’s five overlapping layers, which are open to the north and with views up the Strip, while also reducing direct sunlight and heat from the south. Playing up the Sin City atmosphere seems to be a key part of the design.
“We hope to add to the dynamic atmosphere and liveliness of the Las Vegas Strip, creating a welcoming environment for all of Southern Nevada,” Athletics managing partner and owner John Fisher said.
The franchise announced its intention to move to Las Vegas last May and received formal approval from Major League Baseball in November.
The new stadium features the world’s largest cable-net glass window in the outfield, facing the corner of Tropicana and Las Vegas Boulevards. Plans also call for an 18,000-square-foot jumbotron, which would make it the largest screen in MLB.
Other amenities include a fixed roof, tiered seating with unobstructed vantage points throughout the stadium, up to 2,500 on-site parking spots, a plaza of up to three acres, and more.
While the structure won’t feature a retractable roof, the A’s worked to make fans feel like they are at an outdoor park while also working to also keep them cool during the scorching Vegas summer heat. The “spherical armadillo” is meant to offer passive shading and natural light.
“To be able to design a stadium that felt like you’re outside but focusing on fan comfort led us to the design that we have,” Fisher told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “One of the things that we concluded after looking at a number of other stadiums in warm-weather areas is that the roofs are not opened as much as you think they might be. So we decided that what was most important here was to design a great building that felt like you were outside but that was above all comfortable every day of the year.”
Bally’s announced in February that the Tropicana would be closing on April 4 as plans begin for stadium construction. The A’s and Bally’s announced a 50-year lease deal in May for the team to build a stadium on nine acres, with the remaining 25-acre site available for the gaming company to build another hotel and casino.