About $16.8 million in renovations at Avista Stadium, home of the Spokane Indians Baseball Club, are underway and on track to be completed by Major League Baseball's hard deadline of Opening Day 2025, says Chris Duff, the club’s president. 

Three major projects will be completed in time for this year’s April 5 opening day. Those projects include the renovations to the clubhouses and installation of new field lights, Duff says. 

Lydig Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project, and Spokane-based ALSC Architects PS is designing the master plan for the improvements. 

“We can say with a very high level of confidence that those three projects will be completed by opening day,” Duff says. “We’re excited to have those done, but they also must be done for us to play a game. There’s a lot of pressure there to meet that timeline.” 

As previously reported by the Journal of Business, between now and April 2025, a total of $16.8 million in renovations must be completed in order to satisfy Major League Baseball’s mandated requirements. If renovations cannot meet this hard deadline, the Spokane Indians Baseball Club’s minor league license could be revoked. Intermittent deadlines already have been missed and were waived by MLB without penalty due to the Indian’s staff presenting sufficient evidence that the overall project is progressing, Duff says.

The club envisions an additional $6 million in improvements in the future, but it doesn't have funding sources or a timeline set for those upgrades yet.  

Improvements to the facility, located at the western edge of Spokane Valley, at 602 N. Havana, began shortly after the end of the 2023 minor league season. 

Projects that will be completed during the 2024 season include a new grounds crew building, a new workout building, and a new video board. 

“The ground crew building behind center field is progressing nicely,” Duff says. “We anticipate that being done early during the season, and then once that is complete, we’ll start work on the new batting cage and workout building as well.” 

Once the new grounds crew building is complete, the equipment from the existing grounds crew building will be moved out, and the building will be demolished. A new workout building will be constructed in its place.

Duff anticipates the new video board will be in place by August and operational late this season. 

The last component of the required improvements will happen on the field and after the season ends in September, Duff says. Spokane-based SPVV Landscape Architects will redesign the field to level the ground to provide proper field drainage.