The University of Utah is moving closer to the reality of having a long-awaited baseball stadium on its campus.
On Friday, the school held a topping out ceremony as the final steel beam was put into place on the structure for what will be Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark on Guardsman Way.
Utah baseball players, as well as school personnel and construction workers, signed the beam as part of the ceremonies, and while a challenging 2025 season — the Utes’ first in the Big 12 — is nearing its end, Utah’s future is also coming into view.
“It’s a historic moment for the University of Utah and the baseball program specifically,” Utah junior outfielder Kaden Carpenter said of the Utes’ impending move to their own ball park.
“You know, it’s something that’s going to change a lot of things for the program and put us going in the right direction moving forward.”
The stadium is expected to be ready for the 2026 season, and Friday’s festivities allowed players, Utah staffers and school officials the opportunity to see how the progress was coming along for the program’s new home.
For now, dirt and construction equipment dominate the area where the field will be, and the facility itself is coming together brick by brick — or beam by beam.
It wasn’t difficult, though, to imagine what the new field will become over the next several months.
“There’s still some work to be done, but you’re really excited about what’s come to be and all the hard work that Mr. (Mark) Harlan (Utah’s athletic director) and his staff have put in,” Utah coach Gary Henderson said.
“A lot of people have spent a lot of time and effort and energy to get us to a spot where we could have a ballpark on campus. We’re really pleased, and we very much appreciate it.”
Moving on campus ... with new amenities close by
After playing their home games for nearly 30 years miles away at Smith’s Ballpark, the previous home of the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, the Utah baseball team will instead play its games within earshot of other school athletic facilities in 2026 and beyond.
Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark will feature a FieldTurf playing surface, and there will be permanent seating for 1,200 fans at the field, along with grass berm seating in the outfield.
The facility will also include locker rooms, indoor batting/pitching cages, coaches’ offices, medical space, equipment storage and a press box.
“Having everything in one place changes your daily routine, your travel times have been eliminated and obviously, the artificial turf is going to allow us to prepare at a much different level in January, February and March than we’ve been able to in the past,” Henderson said.
“(I’m) really excited about everything that it brings, and all the advantages that it gives you that we’re really looking forward to being a part of.”
In a lot of ways, the new setting — which has its own picturesque view of the mountains to the southeast beyond the outfield fence — should be a lot more intimate after the Utes have played at Smith’s Ballpark, which had a seating capacity of over 14,500.
“It’s gonna not just bring more fans and more student body, but it’s just gonna give fans a better experience,” Carpenter said. “It’s gonna be a tighter stadium with less seats, and so the environment and just the energy is gonna be intensified that much more.”
One final series at Smith’s Ballpark
It’s a busy weekend for the Utah baseball program. Not only were they celebrating a milestone in the construction of the new field, but the Utes are also wrapping up the regular season this weekend with a three-game home series against TCU at Smith’s Ballpark.
There’s the bittersweet reality that Utah is closing a storied chapter on its history with Smith’s Ballpark — the Utes’ series against the Horned Frogs is the final time Utah will play there on a site that previously also housed Derks Field and Community Park.
The Utes have played at Smith’s Ballpark since 1996.
TCU won the first matchup of the three-game series Thursday night, by a 13-5 score. The two teams will also play Friday (6 p.m. MDT) and Saturday (2 p.m.), with several promotional events going on Saturday that will carry a nostalgic tone.
With the Bees moving to a new stadium in Daybreak, where they began play last month, the momentum began to build for Utah to construct its own stadium on campus.
“Yeah, a lot of emotions in the last couple days. You know, I was talking to (Utah infielder) Cam Gurney about the first time I stepped into Smith’s Ballpark when I was a sophomore in high school, and now it’s the last weekend that we’ll play there forever,” said Carpenter, who prepped at American Fork High.
“So it’s bittersweet, but moving forward, it’s exciting to be on campus and for Layton and the other construction companies being able to get this up sooner than we thought is going to be pretty exciting.”
How a new ball park fits into the Utes’ future in the Big 12
Utah’s final season at Smith’s Ballpark has coincided with the program’s first year in the Big 12 — an experience that’s brought with it plenty of new opportunities and lessons learned.
Going into the final weekend of the regular season, Utah sat in last place in the Big 12 standings.
The introduction to a new conference brought challenges — and rewards — and has left a strong impression with Utah.
“The venues have been great. The teams are well-prepared. The athletes are impressive. It’s been a very good level of baseball,” Henderson said of playing in the Big 12.
“Travel is a little bit different. The wind has been a little bit different. You know, those are the things that impact you just a little bit that are different, but I’ve been impressed with the Big 12.”
Carpenter praised the competition in the Big 12 and said the team has received “a lot of good feedback” on what the program needs to do moving forward.
“It’s what we wanted. We wanted to be a part of a better conference with better competition and it’s going to do us well in the future,” he said.
The Utes’ new facility should also bring its own dividends in the Big 12.
“Being able to come not just on campus, but be able to come to a facility that has everything — a weight room, an indoor facility, a lounge and a place that guys can come and relax and hang out — it’s a big deal, and it’s really small things that people don’t really take in, but it’s going to change everything for the program,” Carpenter said.
Looking forward to the future, there is optimism brimming that an on-campus facility — one where the baseball team has its own dedicated space — can also help Utah in its new Big 12 era.
“Smith’s has been great for the Utes for about 30 years and certainly (we) appreciate everything that’s allowed us to do, but this is different,” Henderson said.
“This is on campus. This is exciting. It can allow us to have a student population presence at the ball game. (It’s a) much better deal for us with the artificial turf practicing in the winter months, and so we’re as excited as you can be.”