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SOUTH BEND – It may be the biggest party to ever hit South Bend.
A triple deck party tower is coming to The Cove.
WSBT on Monday got a sneak peak of the plans from the Silver Hawks’ owner.
Imagine those Wrigley Field rooftops in Chicago, and you’ll have a good idea of what’s to come in South Bend.
A 3-story party tower, a tiki bar with a couple dozen flat screen TVs – baseball is taking on a whole new meaning in South Bend.
“We did so much last year for the kids and the families, now we have an adult space,” said Hawks owner Andrew Berlin.
By next season, The Cove will see another facelift. First on tap – a tiki hut bar in left field capable of holding more than 100 people.
“This year, we will be able to attract the folks in their 20s and 30s that maybe wanna come on a date night or with groups of friends,” Berlin said.
A general admission game ticket would get you a couple dozen flat screen TVs, specialty cocktails for sale and cool misters on those hot summer days. And from there, it only gets better as you move to right field.
“It will be a triple deck party tower,” said Berlin. “The party tower is a lot like Wrigley but without the apartments across the street.”
Seating up to 400 people, the tower will have its own kitchen and bar, focused on group events and parties, but there may be a chance here and there for a general admission opportunity.
“Last year, we sold out our suites, and we had to turn away large groups that wanted to come to the stadium,” Berlin noted.
That problem could be solved with the 3-floor tower, set for Opening Day of the 2014 season unless..
“If we can find a name sponsor for the tower over the next couple weeks, we can pull the trigger on the plan and have it ready for Opening Day (2013),” said Berlin.
Berlin invested about $3 million of his own money last year to create a family-friendly atmosphere at the ballpark. Now, he’s ready to throw in 7 figures more than that.
“It’s a personal investment, because one, it’s fun. Two, I’ve made a commitment to the city, and three, the city government was kind enough to assist, and the return on their investment is many fold over that.”
The city spent $9 million on the stadium over the past few years, and when it comes to this project, Berlin will not ask them for money.
Along with the party tower and tiki bar, we would see a scrolling scoreboard behind home plate and hear a loud horn every time there’s a home run. Berlin is bringing in the same horn from Yankee Stadium to celebrate those big scoring moments.
There’s been a lot of speculation about the area around The Cove and whether the land will ever be developed.
Berlin says a number of developers are looking at that area right now.