Homerun for the Phillies: Renovations at Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park Restaurants
After completing a series of renovations during the 2018 offseason, the Philadelphia Phillies kept the ball rolling in 2019 with a complete overhaul of Citizens Bank Park’s third-base entry plaza. The Phillies again partnered with LF Driscoll to transform the existing McFadden’s Restaurant & Saloon into a brand-new fan area called Pass and Stow—all within six months.
The 32,000sf indoor and outdoor space features a variety of options for food, drinks, and seating. The main restaurant, Pass and Stow, is a 150-seat, family-friendly sports pub. Also inside the repurposed concourse is a brand-new, 120-seat Shake Shack—the fast-food chain’s first foray into seated dining within a sports venue. Outside, the reconstructed plaza features eateries like the Goose Island Bar serving local craft and draft beers and the new Foundry Pizza serving brick-oven pies.
The outdoor portion of this new fan destination also offers a beer garden patio with fire pits, a Phillies waterfall feature, long tables with 250 seats, plenty of standing room, and space for live music performances. The space is partially shaded by a 30ft by 50ft pergola, making it perfect for any type of weather. The entire area is full of TV screens—44 to be exact—so fans can grab a bite and a beer without missing a minute of the game.
FAMILIARITY FACTORY
As always, timing was a major consideration during these renovations. Thanks to LF DriscollGo to https://stobuildinggroup.com/lf-driscoll/’s experience in the ballpark during the 2018 offseason, the project team was more than familiar with working in this venue. “This time around, we had more time to plan, a better understanding of the Phillies expectations and their logistics, and plenty of lessons learned from our work the previous off-season,” says John Fuente, LF Driscoll project director.
Because of this gained understanding, LF Driscoll had operations already established for the next round of improvements when the 2018 baseball season ended, and the project team was able to start construction immediately.
COMPLEX LOGISTICS
In addition to the third-base entrance plaza updates and the adjacent restaurant work, the Phillies also partnered with LF Driscoll to construct the Ballpark Services Building across the street and install the stadium’s new ambitious perimeter security bollards. While these were separate projects—each with its own independent project team—the logistics were not as straightforward.
For instance, the ballpark’s perimeter bollard security improvements included installing over 1,000 bollards around the entire stadium. During the last three months of the project, the Pass and Stow restaurant construction team worked closely with the bollard security team to coordinate material deliveries and access to each of the work areas, including securing pedestrian safety and accessibility.
“The work on the outdoor plaza took up a substantial area of the sidewalk”, Fuente says. ” At one point, the construction crews working on our ballpark perimeter security were coming around the corner with the new bollard work and would need to access that sidewalk. We knew we needed everyone to cooperate and coordinate so that both projects could move forward successfully”.
Project leaders worked together to reimagine the previously established site access, security, and logistics for the plaza and the restaurant. While the perimeter security bollard work progressed, the restaurant project team agreed to reconfigure and relocate their previous access to another location as needed.
HISTORY REVIVED
Outside the Pass and Stow area, the Phillies’ iconic Liberty Bell that once stood in Veterans Stadium—the team’s home from 1971 to 2003—is now prominently displayed at the third-base entry plaza after more than 15 years in storage.
Preparing for the installation of the 19ft replica was a delicate part of the project. The Phillies hired an outside vendor to refurbish and install this historic symbol, and LF Driscoll worked closely with them to provide the foundation and steel to support the 5,000lb structure. The project team also handled the electrical necessary to light the 270 lightbulbs around the bell’s edges. And in keeping with the Phillies’ Liberty Bell theme, the Pass and Stow restaurant itself was named after John Pass and John Stow—the dynamic duo who recast the original Liberty Bell in 1753.
Completed with plenty of time for the Phillies vendors to rotate in and brand the area, both Pass and Stow and Shake Shack were ready to go for the team’s first home game in late March 2019.
Project Details
Size: 32,000sq
Client: Philadelphia Phillies
Ownere’s Rep: Stranix Associates
Arcitecht: EwingCole
MEP Engineer: EwingCole
Structural Engineer: EwingCole
Civil Engineer: Pennoni
Sector: Cultural
Completion: March 2019
Project Highlights
- 86,000 total worker hours on the job
- 0 recordables
- 16,000sf of outdoor entertainment space
- 10,000sf Pass and Stow restaurant
- 6,400sf Shake Shack restaurant