Fans walking into Principal Park for the first time during the 2026 season will be thrown a little bit of a curveball.
The home of the Iowa Cubs has undergone several major changes that fans will get their first glimpse of when the team opens the season against the Columbus Clippers on March 27 at 7:08 p.m.
“It is a cool opportunity to get back into some fan-focused changes not because we didn’t want to in the last couple of years but because of all the things that we needed to do to satisfy the MLB requirements in the short term,” said Iowa general manager Randy Wehofer. “This has been a nice way to transition back into making sure that this ballpark stays up to date.”
The changes will be noticeable throughout the park. The club moved both bullpens and added a new sound system, videoboard, bar and sensory-friendly room.
The bullpens may be the most noticeable changes with both areas now being enclosed after being moved off the field and into areas previously occupied by seats along both foul lines. The move eliminated 734 seats but Wehofer expects it to pay off in the long run.
“It’s better for baseball operations and now when we are doing first pitches and dog days and all the things that we need to do, there’s nobody throwing 99 (mph) down the line getting loose to come into the game,” Wehofer said. “So there will be benefits for us and fans in addition to the team and that makes it a great improvement.”
Wehofer said the new sound system was also a big need at the ballpark. A power surge last November damaged the team’s videoboard, leading to its replacement.
The club added a watering hole on the concourse behind home plate called the Neighborhood Bar. The previous establishment on the concourse has been turned into a sensory-friendly room.
The City of Des Moines paid for the bullpen project. Diamond Baseball Holdings, which owns the Iowa Cubs, purchased the new sound system and videoboard. Wehofer estimates the projects totaled more than $2 million.
“I hope that we’ll show a few things as the season go along, too, that weren’t quite ready to be done for March 27,” Wehofer said.
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2025 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Fans will notice some big changes at Principal Park this summer
Reporting by Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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