Watch: Opening Day at Spirit Communications Park
Columbia , S.C. (WOLO) — On Thursday night, the Columbia Fireflies held their inaugural home opener at Spirit Communications Park on Bull Street.
“I just like the facility it’s a beautiful park and i’d just like to see good baseball,” said resident Al Hornsby.
The journey to opening day has been a long time in the making, including several years of planning and nearly 14 months of construction to make the $37 million idea a reality and bring baseball back to the Capital City.
“It’s exciting,” said Mayor Benjamin. “It’s even more exciting for the people to see the vision.”
The multi-purpose stadium serves as more than just a home to the Columbia Fireflies but also a city venue for concerts, additional sporting events and future development.
“Everything from here out to Bull Street is going to be the first piece, the front 36 acres, which that’s going to be over 400,000 square feet of retail, a million square feet of office and residential so just a complete game changer in terms of a face lift,” said Executive Vice President Brad Shank.
However, during baseball season it’s all business driving fans to cheer on the hometown team. Shank says demand for tickets is high and he is optimistic about future of the fireflies.
“We really think that for the long-term we’re gonna continue to grow each and every year,” explained Shank.
Years worth of work, they hope will pay off for midlands baseball fans.
“I think it’s gonna be a great day,” said resident Patricia Felder. “I think everybody is going to be excited and I’m going to come back to many more games.”
