Sox offer new lure under the stands
For three decades, the memory of the Fenway Park men's room has stuck with Jim Flores, who says he was "terrified" at age 9 by the dank, cramped space and the boisterous, beer-fueled crowd there. But yesterday, Flores, accompanied by his wife and young son, put that memory to rest with a tour of the new Fenway concourse, which features fruit salad, ice cream sundaes, and spiffy new bathrooms.
"These owners care, and they're putting money back into the place," said Flores, who lives in East Bridgewater. "At least they're trying to give you something for what they charge."
Flores was one of several dozen fans who lucked into joining Red Sox officials and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino for the grand unveiling of The Big Concourse, the team's latest attempt to make 91-year-old Fenway Park more comfortable -- and profitable.
By punching through the wall separating the old concourse from the adjacent "Laundry Building" parking garage, the Red Sox expanded the area beneath the right-field stands and center-field bleachers by 66 percent, adding concession stands and kitchens that will offer upscale food and drink such as deli sandwiches, freshly baked pizza, and strawberry daiquiris, unavailable elsewhere in the park.
The renovation more than tripled the size of the ladies' room, and more than doubled the size of the men's room. It also added a "family" restroom designed for parents and toddlers of either gender. The family facility is decorated with black and white photographs of famous Red Sox players posing with children, and a sign above the new changing table advises desperate parents that "diapers [are] available at fan service."
The team also announced several policy changes designed to make Fenway more welcoming: Fans will now be able to bring in plastic bottles of water [one per person] and bags that fit under their seats, as long as they go through a security check at Gate B, which is at the corner of Van Ness and Ipswich streets.
Former Red Sox chief John Harrington said the team needed a new ballpark, with more seating and luxury boxes, to remain competitive. But the current owners, led by Florida financier John W. Henry, have said they'd prefer to save Fenway, the smallest park in baseball, by expanding it.
Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino said a final decision on whether to remain at Fenway Park permanently "is still a ways off." In the meantime, the owners have built about 270 seats on the legendary Green Monster, added more than 500 seats along the foul lines, behind home plate, and on the roof, and transformed Yawkey Way into a concourse area during home games, using portable turnstiles to restrict it to ticketholders.
"We can make some improvements that are relatively easy to implement, and that's what we're doing now," Lucchino said, declining to detail how much the team has spent on them.
The new seats haven't boosted Fenway's overall capacity, because the team has reduced the number of standing-room only tickets, but they have made the park roomier for fans. All of the changes are also helping the owners wring more revenue out of the park without undertaking a major renovation to increase its capacity -- which might take the form of two new decks and 10,000 more seats, at a cost of as much as $180 million.
"We certainly think that with people having more choices in more places, and more places to mill around, they'll spend more money on food and drink," Lucchino said, suggesting that higher concession revenue would more than pay for the cost of building the concourse.
Red Sox officials, who invited fans taking afternoon tours of Fenway to join in the opening festivities, characterized the Big Concourse as one of the last steps the team can take to improve the ballpark without a major overhaul. The team has received city permits to add about 240 more seats to the right-field roof, but hasn't yet decided whether to move forward with that plan.
Though tonight's game against the Oakland Athletics will mark the official debut of the Big Concourse and all of its improvements, fans have been experiencing more room in the area under the right-field grandstand and center-field bleachers for about a month. Security guards have noticed that the extra space has tended to calm the typically rowdy crowd in that area of the park, according to Janet Marie Smith, the Baltimore architect advising the Red Sox on renovating Fenway.
"You put them in a nice, well-kept, clean environment and people behave better," she said.
The sight of daiquiris served at a counter decorated with palm fronds might jar longtime fans, but the team tried to create an old-time feel, Smith said, by painting signs for the concessions on the red brick of the laundry building.
"It still looks like the same old Fenway," Smith said. "It's a more gracious Fenway, a more commodious and welcoming Fenway, but it's still the same old Fenway."
Scott S. Greenberger can be reached at greenberger@globe.com.
