City Approves $701K for Whataburger Field Capital Improvements
Stadium Must Now Meet Major League Baseball Standards
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – At today’s regularly scheduled city council meeting, Mayor Paulette M. Guajardo and City Council approved an addendum to the Lease Agreement for Whataburger Field, which provides $701,800 for improvements to the stadium property that will help to bring the building into compliance with Major League Baseball (MLB) Standards.
The Type A Board, which uses sales tax funding to support business development, will fund the project.
The scope of work will be to upgrade the field lighting, construct a new Women’s Personnel Clubhouse, and renovate the Visitor’s Clubhouse. The construction project should be complete in November 2022.
Since the 2021 season, MLB has operated as the new governing body overseeing minor league baseball. The previous governing body, the National Association of Baseball, did not have facility standards in place. With the shift in management, MLB has created standards for minor league baseball facilities.
All 120 license holders, including the Corpus Christi Hooks, are subject to the enhanced standards to create a more consistent work environment across all the minor league teams. To measure facility compliance, MLB has created a tiered grading scale that requires facilities to achieve specific scores over a 3-year term.
Recent renovations supported by Type A funding has helped Whataburger Field meet some of the base measurements of this new grading scale. However, more investment is needed to bring the Corpus Christi Hooks into compliance and this additional funding will bring them even closer to becoming compliant with the newly adopted standards.
For media inquiries, contact Public Information Manager Robert Gonzales at 361-826-3233 or by email at robertg8@cctexas.com.