American Family Field renovations latest: Winterization pushed back, elevator and escalator work moved up
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- On the field, the news is all good for the Milwaukee Brewers, who will head into the postseason having secured the best regular season record in baseball with their franchise-best 100th win Thursday. As for their home ballpark, it's a bit of a mixed bag.
The Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District Board met Friday morning and discussed the latest on planned improvement projects at American Family Field.
One of the biggest parts of a $500 million public funding plan to improve and maintain the park is a winterization plan. That immense HVAC work would allow American Family Field to host events in the dead of winter.
Facility Manager Brian Dworak told the board Friday complications related to design work have muddied the timeline for that project. He left open the possibility winterization doesn't happen.
The board moved forward with an easement for We Energies, which will lead to construction of a new electric circuit in the area between the Kuehn Lot and the pedestrian walkway crossing Brewers Boulevard.
"This [electric circuit] is kind of a precursor to [winterization]. Again, that electric service would be needed regardless of whether that winterization happens," Dworak told reporters after the meeting.
Dworak said the design work will continue through the end of this year and into early 2027.
"Winterization continues under a design process. There are a lot of moving parts to it," Dworak said. "A lot of places where we're running piping and other electrical elements, so we're taking time to make sure we have the right plan."
Another update is on when work will begin on modernizing the ballpark's escalators and elevators. The escalators made headlines in June of 2024 when 11 people were hurt after an escalator malfunctioned.
Dworak said renovation plans originally called for all of the stadium's escalators and elevators to be renovated in the 2028 offseason. Now, that work will begin this offseason and continue over the next four winters.
"We're doing the first units this offseason, and then each offseason for the next three years will be some additional units," Dworak said. "Such that in about four years, all of the elevators and escalators will have been worked on in the ballpark."
Additional work this offseason will include the outfield plaza that partially opened this summer with a beer garden and miniature golf course. The team also plans to finish construction of the Truss Club luxury seating area behind home plate.
Dworak said any additional gate revenue from postseason games won't directly affect the renovation budget.
"From the district perspective, that does not. That all is the team side of the business," he said. "And so, the planned projects and capital projects we have in our realm is something that's planned for, and additional playoff games don't impact that."
A labor fight threatens to delay the start of the 2027 Major League Baseball season. Dworak said a work stoppage would not change plans for any of the stadium projects this offseason.
"Any work stoppage could end very quickly," Dworak said. "And we're planning to be ready for the 2027 season as scheduled right now."