Fitzgerald Field in Benicia is finally getting a long-awaited makeover.

J-Walt Construction, Inc., began tearing down the field’s wooden bleachers on Monday. The field, which was built in the mid-1970s, will be getting new concrete bleachers and restrooms at a cost of approximately $1.8 million.

“I think a lot of people are happy this is finally getting done,” said Benicia City Project Manager Rick Knight. “It’ll be great to get it off my plate.”

The project was first conceived back in 2016 but had been delayed due to a lack of funding. The City of Benicia had allocated $1 million, then got a $150,000 donation from Valero. Benicia Little League donated $10,000, but that still left the City short by about $750,000. The Benicia City Council voted last June to make up the difference.

“It’s been a long road to get here,” said Benicia Parks & Community Services Director Mike Dotson. “A lot of the delay was the cost of the project. We’ve gone through many different designs of the stadium and the City Council approved the additional funding that was needed.”

The new design will be very similar to what was there before. The original roof, which was removed about five years ago, will be replaced, and modern restrooms will be big enough to hold 150 people.

“The biggest difference is that there will be steel supports for the roof and will have cement benches instead of wood,” Knight said. “And the new stands will be sitting on a block foundation instead of just wood in the dirt.

“The wood deck is gonna be concrete. It will look similar to the existing bleachers and the roof will be continuous. And the slide-in bleachers will have backs on them. It’s all a cement and steel structure. They should never have to worry about it again.”

The Benicia Oldtimers played their regular-season finale last Sunday at Fitzgerald Field, with the bleachers getting torn down the following morning. The Oldtimers were supposed to hold the 2022 NorCal Playoffs beginning this Saturday, but that tournament was moved to San Leandro due to renovations at Fitzgerlad.

Oldtimers manager Brandon Fade is excited about the long-awaited makeover.

“I’m glad the bleacher project is finally getting done,” Fade said. “I’d rather have that done than host a tournament.”

“I’ve played baseball here every year since I was 13,” said Marko Santos, who at age 55 still plays for the Oldtimers. “I’ve probably played more games here than anyone. It’ll be nice to see the field when it has new bleachers.”

Fitzgerald Field is affected by the tide because it’s the City’s high-tide/heavy storm storage area. Years of standing water under the bleachers took its toll on the old facility.

“Basically we force water there,” Knight said. “So when there’s high tide, there’s water under the bleachers and that started to rot out the wood.”

“It gets really wet down there when we get rain,” Dotson said. “It’s usually the last field around here to dry out.”

If rain doesn’t impede construction efforts, the new facilities should be completed in plenty of time for the 2023 baseball season, which begins in late February.

“We’re looking at probably some time in December or early January,” Knight said. “Hopefully a little rain won’t kill us and we can get all the concrete work done and get all the underground stuff completed.”

“Our goal is for it to be completed by next January, but that’s dependent on contingencies,” Dotson said.