TBJ: Atrium Health Ballpark named Ballpark of the Year
Excerpt from the Triad Business Journal: New Greensboro Grasshoppers owner Andy Sandler has big plans for First National Ballpark in the north end of downtown.
And now the stadium where his other N.C. team plays has been named Ballpark of the Year by Ballpark Digest.
Ballpark Digest recognized the Atrium Health Ballpark, which has been credited as a catalyst for the ongoing revitalization of downtown Kannapolis. Once a sleepy mill town, its downtown streets are now lined with small businesses, and more development is on the way.
Sandler, who purchased the Grasshoppers early last year, owns First National Ballpark and hopes to have the same impact in Greensboro. He plans to improve to add a restaurant, improve the stadium’s skyboxes and partner with Front Street Capital on a mixed-used development just outside the ballpark.
“We have all kinds of aspirations to bring a lot of additional development, additional restaurants, bars, retail, to really activate the street scene,” Sandler said during TBJ’s Downtown Greensboro panel discussion in February.
