WILSON BRAND: A rendering is shown of the new minor league ballpark under construction in Wilson, North Carolina, future home of the Carolina Mudcats, a Milwaukee Brewers’ affiliate. (wilsonstadiumprogress.com)

SPINNING INTO NEW ERA

Don’t be surprised if the Carolina Mudcats rebrand to the Wilson Whirligigs by the time they christen a new minor league ballpark in 2026, according to project consultant Tom Tingle.

In two years, the Mudcats, the Milwaukee Brewers’ low-Class A affiliate, plan to relocate from Zebulon, North Carolina to new digs in Wilson, North Carolina, a city of 47,000 which sits 50 miles east of Raleigh.

Wilson is known for its fascination with whirligigs, which by definition are objects that spin and twirl, such as a weather vane, pinwheel or children’s toy. There’s a city park dedicated to whirligigs, showcasing the spinning apparatuses that serve as works of art in the historic community founded in 1849 with roots in the tobacco and cotton industries. In addition, the annual North Carolina Whirligig Festival in town has celebrated the colorful inventions every fall for the past 20 years.

Jonathan Cole, founding principal of Pendulum, the ballpark’s architect, said there will be views from every portion of the seating bowl to the whirligigs, the city’s signature calling card that provides tourism dollars to the community.

Groundbreaking occurred in May for the 4,000-capacity ballpark and is under construction in the downtown business district. Beyond left field sits Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, named for the folk artist and creator of multiple whirligigs he produced from scrap metal on display at the recreational park. Simpson, who died in 2013 at age 94, was portrayed as a “visionary artist of the junkyard” in a New York Times obituary.

“It’s an interesting design feature,” Cole said. “The folks at the city are good people that have a vision for pushing this thing forward.”

The stadium itself, a $48 million project in hard construction costs, is part of a bigger mixed-use district spearheaded by NSV Development, which is investing more than $200 million to construct the ballpark, a new hotel and residential units surrounding the ballpark. The hotel is coming out of the ground at the same time and is basically connected to the ballpark, Cole said.

The Brewers, who operate the Mudcats, are investing capital as well, said Tingle, the former sports architect filling the role of owner’s representative for NSV Development.

Other ballpark development partners are Built Form, a local design firm; Clancy & Theys/Barton Malow, the construction manager; and structural engineer Kimley-Horn.

GIVE IT A WHIRL: Wilson, North Carolina’s new minor league ballpark will have views to Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. (Wilsonwhirligigpark.com)

For the ballpark, the brick infrastructure fits contextually with the region’s textile history, giving it an old timey feel, Cole said, reminiscent of older ballparks in North Carolina tied to the minor leagues and college wood-bat teams dotting the state, such as Fleming Stadium, home of the Wilson Tobs, a college wood-bat team in the Coastal Plain League.

Tingle, hired by NSV after the developer got a recommendation from the Durham Bulls, whose ballpark Tingle helped design in the early 1990s, has been consulting on the Wilson project since early 2024.

There are some similarities to Riverfront Park, the Wichita Wings minor league facility that Tingle worked on at DLR Group that opened in 2021. Both venues have an upper level, containing a multipurpose ballroom-type space down the left-field line and suites down the right-field line, bookended by outdoor party decks.

The Wilson ballpark has outdoor bars with roof cover in left field, as well as right-center field, which is similar to Caromont Health Ballpark in Gastonia, North Carolina, another Pendulum project. In Wilson, the bars are covered by Roman shades, which are movable roof structures.

Tingle said the overall development is a big deal for the city, considering its scope for what essentially has become a bedroom community of Raleigh, the state capital.

“It’s not like Mayberry, but you (still feel like) you’re going back in time,” he said. “It’s charming. With all this development going on — it’s not far from Raleigh and a lot of people live here and work in Raleigh.”