The original consultant’s solution was to simply extend all the existing wiring to the new location at the third baseline. Our internationally renowned AV expert, Garth Hemphill, saw a better path.

Rather than running hundreds of metres of extended cabling, with all the noise, signal degradation, and maintenance headaches that would create, Hemphill consolidated the existing termination point into a single equipment closet. All incoming signals convert to network-based audio, video, and control systems at that point, then travel via fibre to the new control room, where they’re broken back out again. Bi-directional, elegant, and far more functional than the alternative.

The relocation became an opportunity for comprehensive improvement. New camera positions were installed, loudspeaker systems were completely renovated, and the digital signal processing (the brain of the entire building) was replaced with modern equipment. The result is a control room that’s not just relocated but genuinely upgraded.

Hemphill also designed the Diamond Club that now occupies the original control room space. Sitting beneath the seating rake with no direct sightlines to the field, he created an immersive experience using projection mapping and carefully positioned audio. Two panoramic cameras in the stadium feed a stitched, mapped projection across a stepped ceiling, with scoreboard insets and ambient audio from crowd and bat-crack microphones recreating the feeling of being right behind home plate. The space also converts seamlessly for corporate events and private functions when games aren’t on.