Dominican Republic’s Tigres de Licey celebrate with the trophy. (Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP) (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
A renovation project of Estadio Jose Briceno in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, is nearly complete to host a new LIDOM expansion franchise, reports Diario Libre. An expansion team would be the seventh organization in Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana.
Diario Libre reports that the stadium’s remodeling includes a new drainage system and improvements to the stadium’s structure and field. Additionally, the stadium’s LED lighting underwent testing.
“I’m just happy with what we are seeing with this remodeling,” Dominican Republic commissioner of baseball Junior Noboa told Diario Libre. “Put this stadium with all the conditions so that you can play international or national baseball at the level of our league.”
Noboa said the investment is “about 200 million pesos,” or about $11,629,100.00 in United States dollars. “Very grateful to our president for giving us all the support so that our players have the best conditions to play baseball here in our country.”
Last month, Luis Abinader, the President of the Dominican Republic, visited Estadio Jose Briceno to admire the stadium’s renovation. Abinader was just 10 years old when the stadium opened in 1978. He was accompanied by former Major League Baseball players Nelson Cruz, Bartolo Colon, Tony Pena, and LIDOM President Vitelio Mejia Ortiz.
The most recent franchise established in LIDOM is the Gigantes del Cibao, which joined the league in 1996 as the Gigantes del Noroeste. That same year, the club was granted permission to remodel Estadio Julio Javier in San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic, as their home field.
Estadio Jose Briceno was the home of the Piratas del Atlantico in the defunct Liga de Verano del Cibao. The team name could be used for the new LIDOM expansion franchise in Puerto Plata, Administrative Minister of the Presidency Igor Rodriguez announced in a speech at the inauguration of Estadio Leonel Placido in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, the country’s first public football/soccer stadium with synthetic grass.