Photo / Jim Neuger
Portland Sea Dogs President Geoff Iacuessa speaks to the media during a tour of the team’s new clubhouse.
Updated: July 7, 2025
Portland Sea Dogs step up to the plate with new $10M clubhouse
Photo / Jim Neuger
Dakota the dog feels at home already inside the Portland Sea Dogs’ new $10 million clubhouse. She is shown here in the home locker room.
Photo / Jim Neuger
Portland Sea Dogs jerseys with special Independence Day caps in the team’s new locker room.
Photo / Jim Neuger
Portland Sea Dogs President Geoff Iacuessa speaks to the media in the team’s expanded left-field bullpen.
Photo / Jim Neuger
State-of-the-art indoor batting cages for team members to practice their swings.
Behind the left-field line at the home of the Portland Sea Dogs stands a two-story building that most baseball fans may never notice or set foot inside.
Painted dark green to sync with the 31-year-old ballpark, the two-story structure with a single window (for the grounds crew) is a new $10 million clubhouse that opened in June.
Getting the structure built entailed a team effort among the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, the city of Portland and a group of contractors led by Gorham-based Great Falls Construction Co. Out of 26 contractors or sub-contractors who worked on the project, 21 are based in Maine.
“This is a very excellent clubhouse,” Mike Coziahr, director of clubhouse services and equipment manager for the Sea Dogs, told Mainebiz during Thursday’s press tour. “It has a lot cleaner look, a lot less clutter, and that that laundry room — oh my god. I can do an entire game’s worth of laundry including towels in one hour and 15 minutes.”
That afternoon ahead of a holiday-weekend homestand versus the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, clean jerseys were hanging above neatly stacked shoe shelves as Coziahr’s canine assistant — a spirited seven-year-old named Dakota — scurried about soaking up attention.
Both Dakota and her human fan club have adapted well to the move, which was completed over a weekend in June. The ballpark was recently renamed Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field.
Moving parts
Construction broke ground in September and was originally slated for completion around the start of baseball season, in early April. However, delays were caused by wind storms and the team’s negotiations to extend its lease on the city-owned stadium until 2045.
“We wanted to make sure we didn’t put $10 million into the ballpark, and then in three years not be able to get a lease extension,” Geoff Iacuessa, president of the Sea Dogs, told reporters before giving the tour. “The entire experience has been great. I think it’s a state-of-the-art facility.”
The team, owned by private equity-backed Diamond Baseball Holdings since December 2022, will fund part of the cost with $2 million in public tax credits spread over 15 years. The Sea Dogs employ a year-round staff of 25 full-timers and a 275-strong seasonal workforce.
To make room for the new clubhouse, construction crews removed a 500-seat ballpark section popular with fans and their pooches on "Bark in the Park” days, as well as an outdoor picnic area.
Building features
At 20,410 square feet, the new two-story clubhouse is nearly triple the size of the team’s former clubhouse behind the right-field wall that’s now used for visiting teams.
The new facility includes changing areas and showers for female staff and umpires; a weight room with the latest fitness equipment; a commissary as well-stocked with cereal boxes as Jerry Seinfeld’s Manhattan kitchen in the ‘90s-era sitcom; and a major league-worthy double batting cage.
Photo / Jim Neuger
The weight room in the Portland Sea Dogs’ new clubhouse.
Planning for the new clubhouse began in 2021, when Major League Baseball took over its teams’ minor league affiliates and required each to have both home and visiting team clubhouses that provide the necessary practice areas — and creature comforts — for up-and-coming ball players.
“From the Major League perspective, they’re trying to get the next Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, all those folks up to the big league level,” Iacuessa said, referring to two former Sea Dogs now playing for the Red Sox.
Batting practice
Standing next to the batting cages, Iacuessa explained that batters can now practice their swings using a Trajekt machine that can project video images of pitchers from both leagues and emulate their throwing style.
“The advancement in technology has just been amazing over the last couple of years,” he said.
After baseball season ends this fall, the team is planning a field upgrade that will include installing a new irrigation system. It may also look into making the clubhouse available for community events and youth groups in the off-season.
And how do the athletes like their new digs?
“They’ve been in awe,” Iacuessa said.
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