Frontier Field Reconstruction Project

What was the Challenge?

Home to the Rochester Red Wings baseball team, Frontier Field has had quite a history. The stadium was constructed in 1996 as a multi-purpose sports and entertainment facility, and professional soccer and lacrosse teams have used the field for their games in the past. The field had fatigued from overuse and in 2008, Barton & Loguidice teamed with Millennium Sports Technologies, Inc. to provide the engineering design and construction contract administration services for the playing field replacement. Since then, the field has been home to hundreds of Red Wing games and even hosted the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees for a season. Despite the annual care and maintenance of the facility and field, it was again showing severe deterioration after 12 years of use.

How did Barton & Loguidice provide a solution?

Major League Baseball recommends that fields be replaced every 7-8 years, and in 2019, Monroe County announced that the field would be replaced. B&L was once again selected to provide engineering design and construction administration services. For this replacement, B&L teamed with FTE Sports for the engineering design and construction contract administration. SCG Fields, LLC was the general contractor for the work, as they had been for the replacement in 2008. The makeover began in Fall 2019 and included improved subgrade grading, new collection drainage layer and piping system, new perimeter drainage collection piping system, high permeability root zone soils with sand-based natural turn, and a new in-ground irrigation system.

Why was the project a success?

The $2.2 million program was completed in time for the 2020 season. However, due to COVID-19, the players and fans had to wait until the 2021 season to enjoy the significant improvements made on the field. B&L’s working knowledge of the outgoing design, experience managing similar projects with modern design features and technologies, and good relationships with our design consultants and SCG Fields, LLC allowed the project to be completed on time and to project specifications.