EW ULM — Those that have driven by Johnson Park recently have seen that there has been a lot of progress made on her renovation through the RENU project.

And her new face is almost completed.

“As of [Tuesday], Johnson Park is about 80% done,” Ryan Weier, Facilities Maintenance Supervisor for the City of New Ulm said. “They continue to work on projects and continue to finish things that they can. There are going to be some items that will be completely impossible to complete until the weather improves in the spring.”

Weier said that the main aspects of the project that have been completed are the new roof on the grandstand, along with the interior of the new concession stand located down the first base line and is ready for equipment to be installed come spring.

“The exterior of the new concession stand will be finished shortly,” Weier said. “And they are finishing the brick work on all of the different areas now. And the observation deck down the right field line is being worked on and will be finished this winter.”

All grilling of that great food will now be done indoors in the new concession stand.

“It is all self-contained and it is all done on top-of-the-line equipment.”

And fans will have a new venue to watch baseball games this season with an observation deck located down the right field line.

Th deck is 9 1/2-feet high and has a dimension of 45 feet by 16 feet.

“It is two-tiered,” Weier said. “And there is a lower observation area on the ground and an upper observation deck.”

Weier said that there are several locations in the park that will have “lean rails”.

“They will have a shelf area for putting drinks or food on it — there will be multiple locations for lean rail down both foul lines. And the observation deck also has lean rails.”

The new concession stand’s dimensions are just a little larger than the concession stand at Mueller Park.

The former concession stand by the entrance of Johnson Park will now be used for ticket vending on the German Street side along with extra storage, according to Weier.

“Before the weather hit in the fall, they did get all of the ramping and extra concrete completed as well to enter the park,” Weier said. “So now it is just a matter of getting all of some little details finished up.”

The plaza areas located behind the first and third base dugouts are also done and are going to be something special.

“The plazas are very nice,” Weier said. “It is a good utilization of a tough spot for observation behind the dugouts.”

Fans can bring in lawn chairs and there may be picnic tables installed for great family viewing of games.

All fans watching games will also see a new mesh backstop instead of the chain link.

“It is very visually appealing — very thin and durable — and it will serve the spectator very well,” Weier said. “And it will run down to the end of the bleachers. The netting does not even catch your eye and that was a very nice detail that was underrated and it will really add to that spectator experience.”

Protective screens and pads and safety rail in front of each dugouts are also completed.

“Dealing with an 80-year-old facility that was not designed to do the things we are asking it to do, we faced a lot of challenges,” Weier said. “But the contractor Webb Construction and IGA have both been great to work with on this project.”

When asked how he thought fans coming to Johnson Park for games this season will react to the “new” Johnson Park, Weier thought that everyone would be very impressed by the facility.

“I don’t know — outside of the professional stadiums in the state of Minnesota — who is going to have a better facility than New Ulm,” he said.