The Pensacola Blue Wahoos completed a round of offseason ballpark upgrades at Community Maritime Park before the 2026 home opener, continuing a pattern of ongoing facility investment that team president Jonathan Griffith has said is essential to keeping the market's Double-A affiliation.
\n\nBlue Wahoos Stadium opened April 5, 2012, on a long-vacant, contaminated waterfront parcel across Main Street from City Hall that had previously held petroleum tanks. Hoar Construction broke ground in 2009, and the finished project cost $54 million. Populous, the architecture firm behind several Major League ballparks, designed the 5,038-seat facility, the smallest footprint in the Southern League, a fact that has contributed to the stadium's consistently high attendance averages rather than working against them.
\n\nThe park has been named the Southern League Ballpark of the Year three times since opening and holds the Best View designation in Double-A, a recognition of the sight line from nearly every seat directly onto Pensacola Bay. The playing surface was named Admiral Fetterman Field in 2015, honoring the late Rear Admiral Jack Fetterman, who was instrumental in getting the Community Maritime Park project approved by voters.
\n\nThe upgrades this offseason continue a maintenance and improvement cycle driven in part by Minor League Baseball's Professional Development League facility standards. Griffith has been consistent about the stakes: facilities that fall short of PDL requirements can cost a market its affiliated team, regardless of attendance or local support.
\n\nThis is the fifth year of the Blue Wahoos' affiliation with the Miami Marlins in the Southern League. The park hosts more than 200 events annually, with baseball as one piece of a year-round calendar that includes concerts, youth tournaments and community events. The 2026 home schedule is available at milb.com/pensacola.