When Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992, it established a new standard for ballpark design – combining modern elements with nostalgia.
As the Baltimore Orioles’ vice president of planning and development from 1989 to 1994, Janet Marie Smith was the person who set the organization’s plans in motion.
Smith has had a hand in numerous iconic sports projects. As president of Turner Sports and Entertainment Development from 1994 to 2000, she helped transform the 1996 Olympic Stadium into Turner Field – once the Atlanta Braves’ ballpark. She also led the preservation and expansion of Fenway Park as vice president of planning and development for the Boston Red Sox.
The Mississippi native joined the Dodgers in 2012 and immediately oversaw a $100 million stadium renovation, which debuted in 2020.
In the 2014 book “A Nice Little Place on the North Side,” author George Will wrote: “the three most important things that have happened in baseball since the Second World War were Jackie Robinson taking the field for Brooklyn in 1947, free agency arriving in 1975 and Orioles Park at Camden Yards … Major League Baseball owes a debt to a willowy woman from Mississippi.”
I’m pretty fascinated by what you do in terms of developing the look and feel of an entire stadium, which you’ve done not only for the L.A. Dodgers but also Baltimore Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park. What do you enjoy most about your work?
The joy of my job is that I get to be at the table at the very beginning when ideas are formed and priorities are set, and (our) ownership makes a decision about the investment. Then, I get to work with all of the departments to get their input on what it is we want to accomplish – whether it’s from a business perspective, the sponsorship, the ticketing needs, the concessions, the retail (and) baseball operations. When we’re dealing with things like the clubhouse, our stadium operations, you don’t just have the ribbon cutting and walk away. It has to live on, (and) in the case of Dodger Stadium, we’re talking over 60 years.
I get a chance to work with such a fantastic design team, and often, be a part of putting that team together from the architects and engineers to the graphic and interior designers – and then I work with the contractors. And we have such a good collaboration when we can bring contractors in early. I’ve just really loved it, and of all the things I’ve done, Dodger Stadium has given me as much joy as any of them. It’s just been such a kick to work on such an iconic building, one that’s come of age in my lifetime.
You shared that you have always been a baseball fan growing up in Mississippi. Did you imagine yourself working in sports?
I did not think about it at all. It wasn’t until Larry Lucino at the Orioles, and (Maryland) Gov. William Donald Schaefer said: ‘We’re going to make this an urban ballpark. We’re not just building a stadium. We’re going to make this a part of the revitalization of downtown Baltimore.’ It wasn’t until that moment that my worlds collided. Baseball was a pastime … and a respite for me. It was a way to get away from my work. …So it wasn’t until that moment that I saw an opportunity to apply what I had enjoyed about baseball, and the reason that it was my sport of choice, to my work. And it was the urbanity of it.
This is around 1992, and Camden Yards has truly brightened the city and waterfront in Baltimore.
Totally – that whole build changed the face of Baltimore. I mean, we never would have predicted it nor would have known it; and I confess, even now, I kind of hold my breath and I’m like: ‘That building (has stood) the test of time.’
The number of women in the front offices of sports teams and sports-related industries is on the rise. What does that say or mean to you?
During the 13 years I’ve been with the Dodgers, it’s been a real treat to see how many women have been either hired or promoted to a VP position. So, it’s much more prevalent. … You watch all this positive change, and you really celebrate it. I don’t pretend ever to have been at the head of a parade.
Frank Robinson was the manager of the Orioles when I worked for them, and Frank really helped me a lot on the baseball side. … but Frank always felt that his work should speak for itself. … I soaked up some of that from him. I feel confident in my knowledge of things, I feel confident in presenting to people, (and) I just feel confident.
How did you come to choose planning and urban development as your career path?
I think it chose me in a way – I really do. My dad was an architect, so that seems like an easy answer, but the more realistic answer, I certainly knew what architecture was from having grown up in his household.
But I loved art, and I loved math. Architecture seemed to offer both, but once I got into school, it was clear to me that I wasn’t good at offering things. What I was good at was coordinating things. I was good at seeing (what was) missing and figuring out how to put a puzzle together, and so the project management came very naturally to me, and I think I just looked in the mirror, I sort of recognized, I’m not going to be that kind of architect. … I’m not going to be a Brenda Levin or a Frank Gehry … I liked the putting the puzzle together. … I sort of love looking back on it. I realized that those skills have served me well in my career.
Who’s your favorite architect?
I can’t say. That would be like picking your favorite child or something. I do love contextual buildings. So often, I’m not so much into who authored them as I am about the totality of the environment, and how it came together.
What has surprised you most about working in baseball, or just working in sports in general?
What’s surprised me the most is how much it has in common with any other public space. We (look at) sports to be the place you go when you have a special occasion, an average night out (or) fun with the family. … We really try hard to think about how are people (coming to the games)? Why do they choose to come to (watch) baseball? Many times, they’re serious baseball fans; but many times, it’s just the atmosphere. I can honestly say that we’ve learned so much observing how people use public parks, music festivals, car shows and museums – any place that is a place of congregation, has got something to teach us.
What do you hope to see in the future for women pursuing a career in sports?
I hope women don’t feel the stigma of being women. Do what you love, (and) learn what you need to learn. Have the experiences, they aren’t all going to be good. Like for as much joy as my job is today, they’re going (to be) parts of it that aren’t, that are tedious, that are hard … (but) over time, perspective helps you see a balance.
