The blue and orange SunTrust Park signs "will remain" on the Braves' home this season even with the bank's reported merger with BB&T, but there will be "other changes" in and around the ballpark for fans, according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. SunTrust's pending merger with BB&T will "result in a new and not-yet-determined name for the combined banks," which will "lead to a new name" for the Braves' ballpark, but not in '19. Within the venue, SunTrust Park's "deep lineup of hospitality spaces is getting an addition: an area beyond the outfield." A roof "will be completed by May atop this open space, which will be used this season primarily for pregame group functions." Braves President & CEO Derek Schiller said that new food and bar areas "will be added to the space" in '20. Meanwhile, SunTrust Park has "expanded its equipment for accepting mobile payments, as well as credit and debit cards, but doesn’t plan to stop accepting cash, as Mercedes-Benz Stadium has done." Among the changes outside the ballpark are "several new shops have opened since the end of last season in The Battery Atlanta," including outdoor gear and clothing retailer Rock/Creek and record store Waterloo Sunset (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 3/23).
IN WITH THE NEW: The Braves yesterday opened CoolToday Park, located in North Port, Fla., and Tucker notes the $125M complex will be the Braves' Spring Training home for the next 30 years "under terms of their contract with Sarasota County." The occasion was "momentous enough" that Hank Aaron "flew in from Atlanta." The Braves on Saturday "played their final game at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando," which had been their Spring Training home since '98. The 22-year-old ballpark "still seems perfectly fine when viewed from the exterior or within the seating bowl, but behind the scenes it had become cramped, outdated and inefficient." The Braves yesterday for their final exhibition game in Florida this year "bused the 135 miles from Disney to North Port" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 3/25).
