Maven submitted a proposal in the “professional” category for the city’s Ballpark NEXT competition—and won (!) If implemented, our vision would transform the former Smith’s Ballpark stadium into the nation’s first dedicated hub for women’s athletics.
Professional winner: The women’s sports hub
The winning concept submitted by a professional comes from a large team led by Tessa Arneson, who, in addition to being a designer and entrepreneur, is the founder of Salt Lake City’s Maven District: a coalition of primarily female-owned small businesses. Her submission retains the Ballpark structure, renaming it the “She Plays Here Ballpark” and converting the existing baseball field into a multi-purpose rectangular field set next to a regulation softball field.
Arneson’s submission envisions dedicating the facility to local women’s sports teams, including the Falconz, Vipers and Wild. Her plan also converts the parking lot into green space ringed by a multi-level structure housing retail, city offices and a startup incubator.
“My primary job is building spaces for entrepreneurs to fill up, and I particularly love building spaces for women to create businesses, take the leap and really go after what they want to go after,” Arneson says. “When this opportunity emerged, we realized this is what we stand for already, so why don’t we extend it to equality in sports? Why does this not already exist? It’s 2023!”
Arneson believes that the stars of economics, social progress, equality and a large piece of well-placed real estate have all fatefully aligned for female athletes in Utah.
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