Ms. Smith acknowledges the ongoing concern over inadequate seating in Fenway Park, and the development team has
responded by finding "a couple of nooks and crannies" where they could add 1500 seats. They have also added additional seats atop the
Green Monster. "We did a little hand-wringing over this," says Ms. Smith, "because I think most would have thought that such a sacred
icon as the Green Monster might be last on our list of things to touch. But we found in forums like this that when we ask fans what
should happen to Fenway Park, that easily two out of every three responses had something to do with seats on, in, around, under, inside
the Green Monster." The response of fans to the new seating has been encouraging.
Ms. Smith describes the team's most recent project, which included reinforcing the right field roof while maintaining
its original structure and adding an additional 240 seats (as well as standing room) to create an open pavilion. The different seating
with tables and stools will provide "a different neighborhood at Fenway," giving people room to mill around and have fun. The fan
response has been huge, with 80,000 people signing up for a lottery for 240 seats over 81 games. With an eye on the ways in which these
changes will affect Fenway in the future, the development team works to make the park easier to navigate and to provide more entrances
and exits. They hope to continue their usage of adjacent real estate to create wider concourses around the perimeter of the park while
continuing to be respectful of the neighborhood. In addition, there is a great effort towards keeping the renovations historically
accurate. The development team is trying to recapture "the openness of Fenway so that those fans inside the ballpark have a chance to
view it as the park was viewed two generations ago."
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