City Park's First Finish Line Is the Pirates' Spring Training Opener

Who is the first phase of City Park built for? The construction fence along 9th Street West has been up since spring. The green space, splash pad and community events that come up when people talk about the project are all part of the plan. The deadline driving the work right now belongs to a baseball game.

Phase one of the City of Bradenton's City Park project began in May 2026, and the city expects it to be finished "prior to Spring Training 2027." The Pittsburgh Pirates open that spring at LECOM Park on February 19 against Toronto. Full buildout of everything else, according to the same city project page, is expected in mid-2028. That leaves two schedules on the same block. One is aimed at a ballgame about three months out. The other covers the features the neighborhood will use day to day.

What the first $14.7 million builds

On April 8, 2026, Bradenton City Council voted 5–0 to authorize a guaranteed maximum price of about $14.7 million to start phase one, according to a Citizen Portal account of the meeting. The package includes:

• A competition-grade turf baseball field
• Relocation of underground stormwater infrastructure
• Walkways
• Shade structures
• Game-day support features

County, state and federal sources pay for it. Some of the federal money is tied to the stormwater work. The city says Bradenton will benefit from $4 million in federal Community Project Funding secured by Congressman Vern Buchanan, with $3 million of it for stormwater improvements associated with City Park.

When the city announced the June 9 groundbreaking at 1511 9th Street West, it summed up phase one as "a new baseball field and related site improvements." The latest progress photos on the city's page, dated October 21, 2026, show an aerial of the phase one site and the rising phase one observation tower.

The council also approved a $1.35 million purchase of an 11.3-acre parcel at that same April meeting, to be used for the park, the Police Athletic League and stormwater, and paid for entirely from outside sources.

Why a ballgame sets the deadline

The Bradenton Herald reported in April that work on one new baseball field was expected to start in May and be ready for 2027 Spring Training, with the rest of the project built in phases through 2028. According to the city, the expansion is meant to support "state, regional, and national baseball tournaments," along with tourism and the revitalization of downtown.

Here is how the next baseball calendar at LECOM Park lines up, from the Pirates' 2027 schedule release and the Marauders' 2027 schedule announcement:

The Pirates play 15 of their 30 spring games at LECOM Park. The Marauders' 132-game Florida State League season splits evenly, with 66 games at home. Game times, ticket prices and on-sale dates for spring training will be announced later.

Parking is the part of game day that touches the neighborhood most. The Pirates' ballpark information page lists $15 parking at the 6th Street lots and $25 at the Home Plate lot, calls availability extremely limited, and notes the details are subject to change. The expanded parking in the City Park plan belongs to the larger vision. In the 2025 design contract, as Business Observer reported, architects Fawley Bryant were scoped for grass parking for 550 cars and a paved lot for 300, with a three-level garage listed as future work outside that contract.

The features people picture run to mid-2028

The full list on the city's page goes well beyond baseball. It includes a public park, a splash pad, concessions for food and beverage vendors, and space for art, community events and public markets. It also includes a Community Resource Center, developed with the City of Bradenton, Manatee County Government, the School District of Manatee County and the Police Athletic League. The center would house athletic programs, child and adult education, career development and family support services.

The Herald described the overall plan as three new baseball fields, a football field, a Miracle Field and the community resource center. The 2025 Fawley Bryant design scope added more detail on the baseball side: a third field with PNC Park dimensions, an existing practice field upgraded with 300 seats, lights and a scoreboard, a 4,500-square-foot batting tunnel and a 2,500-square-foot building for retail, concessions, restrooms and storage.

WWSB reports the full project is funded by more than $30 million from local, state and federal sources. Phase one's $14.7 million is roughly half of that total, and its scope covers one baseball field plus stormwater, walkways, shade and game-day features. The splash pad, the public market space and the resource center fall under the mid-2028 full buildout.

Already the answer for another neighborhood's park

At the October 14 Bradenton City Council meeting, residents spent nearly an hour talking about East Bradenton Park. WWSB reported that people with the New Manatee Broncos youth football program asked for a football field there, and that other residents asked the city not to lose the park's pool, which has been idle. One speaker summed it up: "I am in opposition of taking away the pool, I am in favor of the splash pad, and I am for these kids, how do we put it all together."

Mayor Gene Brown explained in the WWSB story that the pool "really is not able to be open because of the leaking," and that East Bradenton Park belongs to the county: "It is a county park, funding and the way things are going to go, will be through the county." Council members then brought up City Park as a possible answer to some of those requests. Brown added, "With our city park, PAL will have a turf football field behind it." WWSB reported that the plan for East Bradenton Park is to stay as it is, with no expansion planned.

So City Park is now being asked to carry youth football, a splash pad and family services for a wider part of the city than the few blocks around LECOM Park. All three of those sit on the 2028 timeline. The piece expected this winter is the tournament field.

What changes around 9th Street West in the meantime

The project's footprint reaches past the ballpark. WFLA described the corridor as Ninth Street West between 13th and 17th avenues and reported that the long-term goal is better walking and biking connections to downtown and the Village of the Arts. Paul Rutherford, head brewer at Sun Lab Brewing, told WFLA he was optimistic about more walkability and foot traffic in the area. At the groundbreaking announcement, Mayor Brown called the project "an important step in strengthening the connections between our neighborhoods, downtown, and the Riverwalk."

The name looks back as well. The city chose City Park to honor City Park Field, where baseball was played more than a century ago, and says the project will keep that history intact.

For anyone who lives near the ballpark or walks this stretch of 9th Street West, these are the dates on the calendar:

1. Now through winter: Phase one construction continues on the turf field, stormwater work, walkways and shade structures, with the city posting progress photos on its project page.
2. February 19, 2027: The Pirates' spring home opener. The city anticipates phase one will be complete before spring training begins.
3. March 20, 2027: The last Pirates home game of the spring.
4. April 2, 2027: The Marauders open their home season.
5. Mid-2028: Full buildout, including the public park, splash pad, market space and Community Resource Center.

The first thing expected to open behind the 9th Street West fence is a turf ballfield, in time for spring training. The splash pad, market space and resource center are on the mid-2028 timeline.

If you own near LECOM Park or the Village of the Arts and want to talk through what a multi-year public build like City Park means for your block, Vince and Alec at SRQ Coastal Living follow these projects phase by phase. Schedule a Complimentary Coastal Consultation and we'll go over the timeline with you.