Notes From The Nat

In olden times, I would have to poke around Nat Bailey Stadium like a prowler to get inside information on goings on. I’d have to overhear things in the stands, or buy beer for an underage intern, or install listening devices in the urinals to get any tidbit of info that wasn’t in a press release.

Last year that began to change, as various folks - players, employees, even management - opened their arms to what Notes From the Nat is all about and made us part of the family.

Now? The info comes thick and heavy, with pictures no less!

Below you’ll find the latest in a series called "Nat Bailey Stadium pushes into the 20th century", where we demonstrate how the ballpark concourse is slowly but surely turning into that of a professional sporting franchise - complete with retail outlets that don’t look like they were constructed during an episode of Canada’s Worst Handyman.

Let’s roll the digital images.

Remember this image from a few weeks back, that we struggled to even identify?

Well, here’s what it looks like now:

This is the new Vancouver Canadians merchandise store. Yes, that’s right, an actual store that you can walk into, rather than the series of shelves and tables and ridiculous queues that used to dot the old concourse.

This is the back of the concourse, which used to be where the souvenirs were sold, and where the information booth was:

And here’s the snack bar renovation (to the left), which is starting to take shape, and a little wider view of the new retail boxes:

Word is that the team is going for a retro ‘throwback’ look, which is absolutely the right way forward for a place like The Nat, and when combined with what they’re planning for the outside of the ballpark, it really makes you suspect that we’re going to see a lot fewer articles about how sad the ballpark is, and a lot more about how ‘awesome’ it is.