NC State baseball's Doak Field set for $15 million renovation

The home of NC State baseball is about to get a significant facelift.

Wolfpack athletics, in collaboration with Ewing Cole, announced on Thursday a three-phase, $15 million enhancement plan for Doak Field at Dail Park, with the first phase to begin following the 2022 season.

For NC State baseball head coach Elliott Avent, it has been a long time coming.

“This is not only the right time, this is probably well overdue, if you talk to former players,” Avent told GoPack.com’s Jeff Gravley. “The time’s here, and it’s the time for it.

“The reason it’s going to happen is all the hard work those former players have put in, and they’re the ones that got this is done. The time is right, and we’re going to do it the right way. Just happy that it’s finally here.”

The Wolfpack Club has already initiated a significant fundraising effort that has produced early progress, but the hope is for more significant additional support from NC State baseball fans to reach the ultimate goal.

If fundraising exceeds $15 million, more phases will be added to the renovations.

“We’re looking for a select number of people to help an awful lot,” director of athletics Boo Corrigan said to Gravley. “That’s a big part of it.

“We did do the $100 stadium enhancement fee on all of our season tickets.”

The goal is to “address several areas of critical needs,” according to a release from NC State athletics. That includes the locker room, team lounge with nutrition and sports medicine, weight room, batting facility and pitching lab from a competitive team performance standpoint.

Other facility improvements will include a new playing surface, LED lighting, scoreboard and sound system upgrade, relocated bullpens and branding opportunities.

For the fans, new seating variety and quality, premium and entertainment space, concession upgrades and a new shaded area are planned.

Corrigan noted that trips to Arkansas for the Super Regional in the summer and this fall to Mississippi State helped incorporate some ideas.

“When you have a historic venue like Doak, you have an opportunity to expand on that, to make it better, to make it more special, if you will,” Corrigan said. “I think that’s the opportunity that we saw.

“And that’s the opportunity that we are going to seize upon.”

Avent noted that Doak Field is as synonymous to NC State baseball as Reynolds Coliseum is to the basketball program.

“We want to build something that’s right,” Avent noted. “Now it’s time to build a stadium that is commensurate with what this league is all about, what our program is all about.”

Avent also noted the future benefits of the project.

“With this new renovation, I think recruiting is going to be better and better and better, because … our reputation is out there for development — how we treat players, how players love it here,” Avent added.

Corrigan noted that the topic of Doak Field renovations has been on the table “for a while.” He joked that Avent has been knocking on his door repeatedly asking when it would happen.

After a College World Series appearance in June that captivated national attention, that time has come.

“We can enhance this, and most importantly we can do it in a NC State way, which really works for us,” Corrigan said. “Which is going to be: focus on the people, first and foremost, with our student-athletes, with our coaches then with the fanbase.”

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