Congratulations to Wharton-Smith’s Tampa Commercial – North Port Team on completing the repairs to the Charlotte Sports Park. There was significant damage sustained throughout the facility and practice fields when Hurricane Ian struck in September 2022. The category four hurricane caused wind and flood damage that tallied into the millions. Wharton Smith was initially hired in November 2022 to perform a facility condition assessment to verify the extent of the damage and verify the cost. The reconstruction efforts began in March 2023 and were completed in January 2024.
The Major League Clubhouse, Building A, Building B, Ticket Office, Concessions, and the Press Tower all suffered water intrusion; the interior of each building was rebuilt along with roof replacements at many of the main buildings. The Main Stadium suffered a total loss of the roof structure covering the stadium seats and had to be completely rebuilt. All Stadium light poles were also beyond repair and had to be relocated and replaced with new LED-style Stadium lights. All repairs were finished in time for the 2024 Spring Training Season.
“Through an extraordinary display of teamwork, our team worked together to complete this fast-track project in less than one year and under budget,” said Wharton-Smith Area Manager Caryn Huff.
“It took tremendous efforts by all parties involved to complete the 17+ million dollars in repairs on such a short timeline,” said Project Engineer Tripp Lytle. “I could not be more thankful to have been able to work alongside such a great project team!”
