Trash Pandas GM: ‘If we invest in the stadium now, it benefits everyone’

MADISON — With an April 2026 deadline looming, Madison officials and BallCorps, the ownership group behind the Rocket City Trash Pandas, are under pressure to bring Toyota Field up to Major League Baseball’s new facility standards.

However, challenges remain as the city struggles to finalize plans and secure contractors for the necessary upgrades.

Garrett Fahrmann, executive vice president and general manager of the Trash Pandas, expressed growing concern over the project’s delays. 

“I’m getting nervous as each passing day goes by that this is not going to be done by April 2026,” Fahrmann said. “Major League Baseball has shown us grace with the extension, but we’re still not any further along.”

The new MLB facility requirements include expanding the visiting clubhouse, increasing the size of training and coaching rooms, adding a kitchen and commissary, and ensuring private facilities for female staff and umpires.

While compliance was originally mandated by April 2025, the grace period granted by MLB allows the team and city extra time to make necessary changes. 

The Madison City Council has been debating three options.  

1. Retrofitting the Existing Maintenance Facility, $4 million: This option would convert the current field maintenance garage into a visiting clubhouse, while building a 5,000-square-foot maintenance facility elsewhere. Though the most cost-effective, some council members have criticized it as a “duct tape solution.”
   Fahrmann said while MLB has agreed there is enough space for this option, the retrofit has not been approved because there are not plans available.

2. Constructing a Standalone One-Story Clubhouse, $7 million: Thisinvolves building a  clubhouse beyond the left field fence, with the potential to add additional stories at a later date.
   Although there is debate with this option, if it would include the more expensive features required to build on or be built to remain a one-story structure.

3. Developing a Four-Story Mixed-Use Facility, $25 million: The third and most ambitious option includes a new clubhouse, event space, seven suites and a rooftop party deck.
   Despite the hefty price tag, Fahrmann said BallCorps has committed to backstopping the agreement, ensuring no taxpayer money would be used from the city’s general fund.

However, a recent bid request for the project resulted in no proposals, adding further delays. While officials speculated that construction firms may have been deterred by the tight timeline and event schedule at Toyota Field, it remains unclear whether the city will rebid or negotiate directly with a contractor.

Despite the uncertainty, BallCorps is pushing for the four-story option, citing long-term revenue potential from expanded event hosting, including Christmas parties, corporate gatherings, and additional sporting events such as high school and college football games.

“If we invest in the stadium now, it benefits everyone,” Fahrmann said. “We’re not raising ticket prices — our goal is to keep this an affordable, family-friendly destination while maximizing its potential.”

Fahrmann said the four-story option is an investment in the community, a community he says continues to grow.  

“This area is growing, we want to grow with it,” said Fahrmann. “The ballpark will be 7 years old when this four-story building would be built. So it’s not exactly a brand new ballpark anymore.” 

This is an opportunity to get ahead, said Fahrmann.  

“I think it’s a real opportunity for us to take advantage of the kind of lemons that we were given with Major League Baseball’s facility standards and we can make this into a Tito’s lemonade,” he said.   

“Let’s have a party.”