BURLINGTON, N.C. — Soon, people who live near the Burlington Athletic Stadium will have more to do than just attend baseball games.
The Burlington Sock Puppets broke ground on their new entertainment venue Friday.
This facility is set to be active all year long, not just during the team's June to August season.
The Burlington Sock Puppets will be joining other teams like the High Point Rockers who built Stock and Grain and Congdon Yards right next to the field.
The new building in Burlington will sit right along the first baseline. Mayor Pro-Tem of Burlington, Harold Owen was at the groundbreaking.
"Well, it's just been an evolution over time of making improvements that make the facility more user-friendly for a diverse group of people that can utilize it. Makes it more family-friendly which we feel is very important for drawing people to any kind of activity that is held here," Owens shared.
The new entertainment venue will be available for rentals and hosting events as well.
"A large part of this project is to continue to allow activation 365 days of the year and this project really turns this ballpark into a true entertainment venue and allows for us to bring multiple events across the entire year to Burlington Athletic Stadium," Burlington Sock Puppets Owner, Ryan Keur said.
This is something similar to what the High Point Rockers' stadium did last year.
Pete Fisch, the High Point Rockers President said, "I think, with the development, this creates a destination for more than just baseball. People are getting into the habit of coming downtown.”
Stock and Grain Food Hall and Congdon Yards sit right next to the Rocker's stadium providing a similar experience, the Burlington Sock Puppets are looking to bring to their area.
"The days of a stadium being one dimensional and just being for baseball are long gone to make it viable for any city in any downtown and any district to have multiple activities. We have over 200 activities a year. Everything from kickball to baseball to high school football, high school baseball up and down the list and the whole idea is getting people to engage with downtown,” Fisch said.
The Sock Puppets hope to open the venue by June 8th.
