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“A Milestone Day”: Ribbon Cut on Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark
1/28/2026 6:21 PM | Baseball
University, supporters and community partners celebrate completion of baseball program’s new home
SALT LAKE CITY – Energy and excitement filled the southern tip of the University of Utah campus Wednesday afternoon, as approximately 150 supporters gathered to celebrate the grand opening of Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark.
Several dignitaries spoke from the podium to illustrate the facility's impact—not only as the home for the Utah baseball program but as a shared community asset. In keeping with that theme, the event recognized the outcome of a shared vision between the U, Salt Lake City and community.
Once podium remarks concluded, project supporters and partners gathered to cut the ribbon and officially kick off a new era.
The ballpark is located on Guardsman Way and was built on the site of the baseball team's former practice facility. It brings the Utes back to campus for games after playing the majority of contests downtown at Smith's Ballpark from 1996 to 2025.
America First Credit Union played a leading role in bringing the program's new home to life, partnering with the U on a 10-year naming rights agreement. The project also received meaningful support from Charlie Monfort, owner and general partner of the Colorado Rockies and a proud Utah alumnus.
Ground was broken in summer 2024 and Utah will host game competition in the facility beginning this season. The Utes began practicing here in August 2025 once the FieldTurf playing surface was installed and while work continued in other areas of the ballpark. The team was able to see the completed interior spaces—including the locker room—for the first time this past Sunday, and day-to-day baseball operations will transition here in the coming days.
Guests at Wednesday's celebration were clearly ready to play ball. As the ribbon cutting finished, the smell of hot dogs grilling filled the air—and indeed, everyone stuck around after the ceremony to enjoy hot dogs, snacks and refreshments.
About the only things missing were the sounds: the crack of the bat, the ball hitting the glove or the roar of the crowd in a Utah victory. Those will all come soon enough, though. The Utes play their first home game on Friday, March 6, and are scheduled to host 24 regular season games this year.
In the meantime, guests on Wednesday were treated to a tour of the ballpark and its amenities. Nearly everything that a Utah baseball student-athlete could need is located here. In addition to the field itself, the team locker room, film room, lounge, weight room, equipment room, sports medicine suite, coaches' offices and more are all under one roof. Directly adjacent to the field surface is an indoor training facility with hitting tunnels and pitching lab. Many of these spaces were previously spread across campus and the city—and were not as extensive.
The project came together rather quickly; less than two years ago, this same location was a grass field with a chain-link backstop. A key moment came in 2023 when the U's Board of Trustees gave contingency approval for the project. In the months that followed, Populous was selected as design architect, VCBO was designated as the architect of record and Layton Construction was tabbed general contractor. The majority of funding for the $38 million project was privately raised.
Eighteen months after construction began, and thanks to alignment between the university, city and community, all that's left is everyone's two favorite words.
"Play ball!"
Selected Quotes
Taylor R. Randall, University of Utah President
"This is not only a milestone for University of Utah Athletics or our baseball team, but it's a milestone day for our community and the community that surrounds us. This is truly a community asset. It will build our university community and the community around University of Utah Baseball. We are deeply grateful to all of our community partners that have made this possible."
"This will be a field of dreams for everyone: large, small, growing up. They'll come to this field and be able to participate in what we love to think of as the quintessential moments of the American Dream: learning to play a little bit of baseball."
Steve Price, Former University of Utah Trustee
"I called (Salt Lake City Chief of Staff) Rachel Otto and said 'Rachel, can we get this done?' And she said 'we're going to get this done.' So over the next 37 meetings—every other week—everyone worked together until we got a unanimous vote with improvements that the University of Utah is making into Sunnyside Park. And that's how we got to where we are today."
"I want to thank everyone here, for all the work that everyone has done to see a vision through to where we could be here today. So thank you."
Mark Harlan, University of Utah Director of Athletics
"This is an ultimate example of cooperation, which is one of the reasons why it's so great to be at the University of Utah. The administrative support from Taylor (Randall) on down through our trustees; in this case our city partners, everybody. We're so grateful to finally be here at this moment and for this group (of student-athletes) to have this opportunity."
"I want to start off by thanking our incredible partners at America First Credit Union…We can't do this without you guys. We really can't. And we appreciate you guys so much. You made such a difference, as your company always does in this community."
"Mr. Monfort, it's been a journey for he and I…Thank you for everything. I remember when we sat (at Rice-Eccles Stadium) and we talked about this. You stepped up big time and took us over the top for us to get a shovel in here. Thank you for allowing us to share your name. Your name on this is another example of how great this place is. I look forward to your family coming and seeing it."
"Is there a better view in college baseball, or baseball anywhere? It's pretty cool."
Thayne Shaffer, President/CEO of America First Credit Union
"What we always look for in a partnership is synergy. And I know that's a really overused word; but if you think of all the strengths that the U brings to the community and the strengths that America First brings to the community, we really magnify each other. That is exactly what we looked for. This is just an outcome of many, many years of that strong partnership."
"I think it's very important that we have places in the community where our young people can come and develop values, develop their character and learn a good work ethic; so that when they move into leadership roles that we're stronger for it."
Charlie Monfort, Colorado Rockies Owner/General Partner
"Going to school here, I learned that Utah does things first class. No matter what we do here, whether it's in the arts, the hospital area, research, sports—everything is top-notch and first class. But what we had lacked up until now was supporting (the baseball team) in their baseball endeavors and their goals going forward—and what they can learn from leadership, camaraderie, teamwork, moral makeup. They always had it, but they didn't have something they could call their own."
Gary Henderson, University of Utah Head Baseball Coach
"I think the first thing this does is it gives our kids a home, a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose. It's a tremendous facility to get prepared (for a game) and it's obviously going to help very much in the recruiting process."
"It shows a statement that baseball is important to the athletic department. It's a tremendous visual that you have when you're looking out to center field. It's just a really nice statement that the athletic department has made that baseball is important at the University of Utah."
Cameron Gurney, Redshirt Junior Infielder
"It's unbelievable. Smith's Ballpark was great to us. But now that we have a place that we get to call our own; we get to show up every day as a group of guys, hang out all day and use all the tools and resources that we have—it's truly going to elevate our game. We're super grateful."
Follow Utah Baseball
Keep up with the Utes by following @utahbaseball and by visiting www.UtahUtes.com. Download the Utah 360 app here.
Several dignitaries spoke from the podium to illustrate the facility's impact—not only as the home for the Utah baseball program but as a shared community asset. In keeping with that theme, the event recognized the outcome of a shared vision between the U, Salt Lake City and community.
Once podium remarks concluded, project supporters and partners gathered to cut the ribbon and officially kick off a new era.
The ballpark is located on Guardsman Way and was built on the site of the baseball team's former practice facility. It brings the Utes back to campus for games after playing the majority of contests downtown at Smith's Ballpark from 1996 to 2025.
America First Credit Union played a leading role in bringing the program's new home to life, partnering with the U on a 10-year naming rights agreement. The project also received meaningful support from Charlie Monfort, owner and general partner of the Colorado Rockies and a proud Utah alumnus.
Ground was broken in summer 2024 and Utah will host game competition in the facility beginning this season. The Utes began practicing here in August 2025 once the FieldTurf playing surface was installed and while work continued in other areas of the ballpark. The team was able to see the completed interior spaces—including the locker room—for the first time this past Sunday, and day-to-day baseball operations will transition here in the coming days.
Guests at Wednesday's celebration were clearly ready to play ball. As the ribbon cutting finished, the smell of hot dogs grilling filled the air—and indeed, everyone stuck around after the ceremony to enjoy hot dogs, snacks and refreshments.
About the only things missing were the sounds: the crack of the bat, the ball hitting the glove or the roar of the crowd in a Utah victory. Those will all come soon enough, though. The Utes play their first home game on Friday, March 6, and are scheduled to host 24 regular season games this year.
In the meantime, guests on Wednesday were treated to a tour of the ballpark and its amenities. Nearly everything that a Utah baseball student-athlete could need is located here. In addition to the field itself, the team locker room, film room, lounge, weight room, equipment room, sports medicine suite, coaches' offices and more are all under one roof. Directly adjacent to the field surface is an indoor training facility with hitting tunnels and pitching lab. Many of these spaces were previously spread across campus and the city—and were not as extensive.
The project came together rather quickly; less than two years ago, this same location was a grass field with a chain-link backstop. A key moment came in 2023 when the U's Board of Trustees gave contingency approval for the project. In the months that followed, Populous was selected as design architect, VCBO was designated as the architect of record and Layton Construction was tabbed general contractor. The majority of funding for the $38 million project was privately raised.
Eighteen months after construction began, and thanks to alignment between the university, city and community, all that's left is everyone's two favorite words.
"Play ball!"
Selected Quotes
Taylor R. Randall, University of Utah President
"This is not only a milestone for University of Utah Athletics or our baseball team, but it's a milestone day for our community and the community that surrounds us. This is truly a community asset. It will build our university community and the community around University of Utah Baseball. We are deeply grateful to all of our community partners that have made this possible."
"This will be a field of dreams for everyone: large, small, growing up. They'll come to this field and be able to participate in what we love to think of as the quintessential moments of the American Dream: learning to play a little bit of baseball."
Steve Price, Former University of Utah Trustee
"I called (Salt Lake City Chief of Staff) Rachel Otto and said 'Rachel, can we get this done?' And she said 'we're going to get this done.' So over the next 37 meetings—every other week—everyone worked together until we got a unanimous vote with improvements that the University of Utah is making into Sunnyside Park. And that's how we got to where we are today."
"I want to thank everyone here, for all the work that everyone has done to see a vision through to where we could be here today. So thank you."
Mark Harlan, University of Utah Director of Athletics
"This is an ultimate example of cooperation, which is one of the reasons why it's so great to be at the University of Utah. The administrative support from Taylor (Randall) on down through our trustees; in this case our city partners, everybody. We're so grateful to finally be here at this moment and for this group (of student-athletes) to have this opportunity."
"I want to start off by thanking our incredible partners at America First Credit Union…We can't do this without you guys. We really can't. And we appreciate you guys so much. You made such a difference, as your company always does in this community."
"Mr. Monfort, it's been a journey for he and I…Thank you for everything. I remember when we sat (at Rice-Eccles Stadium) and we talked about this. You stepped up big time and took us over the top for us to get a shovel in here. Thank you for allowing us to share your name. Your name on this is another example of how great this place is. I look forward to your family coming and seeing it."
"Is there a better view in college baseball, or baseball anywhere? It's pretty cool."
Thayne Shaffer, President/CEO of America First Credit Union
"What we always look for in a partnership is synergy. And I know that's a really overused word; but if you think of all the strengths that the U brings to the community and the strengths that America First brings to the community, we really magnify each other. That is exactly what we looked for. This is just an outcome of many, many years of that strong partnership."
"I think it's very important that we have places in the community where our young people can come and develop values, develop their character and learn a good work ethic; so that when they move into leadership roles that we're stronger for it."
Charlie Monfort, Colorado Rockies Owner/General Partner
"Going to school here, I learned that Utah does things first class. No matter what we do here, whether it's in the arts, the hospital area, research, sports—everything is top-notch and first class. But what we had lacked up until now was supporting (the baseball team) in their baseball endeavors and their goals going forward—and what they can learn from leadership, camaraderie, teamwork, moral makeup. They always had it, but they didn't have something they could call their own."
Gary Henderson, University of Utah Head Baseball Coach
"I think the first thing this does is it gives our kids a home, a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose. It's a tremendous facility to get prepared (for a game) and it's obviously going to help very much in the recruiting process."
"It shows a statement that baseball is important to the athletic department. It's a tremendous visual that you have when you're looking out to center field. It's just a really nice statement that the athletic department has made that baseball is important at the University of Utah."
Cameron Gurney, Redshirt Junior Infielder
"It's unbelievable. Smith's Ballpark was great to us. But now that we have a place that we get to call our own; we get to show up every day as a group of guys, hang out all day and use all the tools and resources that we have—it's truly going to elevate our game. We're super grateful."
Follow Utah Baseball
Keep up with the Utes by following @utahbaseball and by visiting www.UtahUtes.com. Download the Utah 360 app here.
Players Mentioned
INF
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