Binghamton Moves Forward With Multi-Million Dollar Upgrades to Baseball Stadium

 The City of Binghamton is moving forward with plans to invest $2.75 million in improvements to the professional baseball stadium.

City Council held a public hearing on the upgrades to Mirabito Stadium which are tied to Major League Baseball’s demands for keeping a minor league team in Binghamton.

The Rumble Ponies seemed on the verge of saying goodbye to Binghamton as MLB had plans to cut at least 40 minor leagues from affiliation with the big leagues, sparking a scramble by public officials from local communities up to the halls of Congress to try to save professional baseball in small-town America.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer was among the politicians at bat for keeping Double-A baseball in Binghamton.

The City had already invested millions of dollars in the stadium under earlier MLB requirements but last year part of the deal to preserve the over 100-year history of professional baseball in Broome County included another promise of public investment in facilities.

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In addition to the earlier upgrades that may have played a part in convincing Major League Baseball to keep the New York Mets affiliate in the Southern Tier, the new, $2.75-million investment will pay for a new speaker system and scoreboard and other improvements.  The money is already contained in the 2022 Binghamton City budget.