Lectures
Janet Marie Smith
America’s urban diamonds: hits, runs and errors
Janet Marie Smith was named Dodgers’ senior vice president of planning and development in 2012. In her five years in Los Angeles, Smith has overseen the large-scale improvement/ expansion projects at Dodger Stadium and Campo Las Palmas, the club’s home in the Dominican Republic, which under Smith’s direction, underwent a major renovation this offseason to make it one of the best Latin American facilities in baseball.
Smith is best known in baseball for her work on Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which set the standard for a new wave of ballparks after its opening in 1992. Smith worked for the Orioles from 1989-94 as vice president of planning and development during the design and construction of the park. She later rejoined the club from 2009-12 to direct renovations and expansion of the Orioles’ spring training facility in Sarasota, FL, and upgrades to Camden Yards.
From 2002-2009, Smith served as senior vice president of planning and development for the Boston Red Sox, overseeing the preservation and expansion of Fenway Park. Smith was president of Turner Sports and Entertainment Development and vice president of planning and development for the Atlanta Braves from 1994-2000, when she helped transform the 1996 Olympic Stadium into Turner Field and she oversaw the development of the Philips Arena, then home to the NBA Hawks and NHL Thrashers.
Outside of baseball, Smith has worked on development projects including Battery Park City in New York in the early 1980’s, unfulfilled plans for Pershing Square in LA in the late 1980’s and planning for the renovation of the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, CA in 2009.
Smith earned a bachelor of architecture degree from Mississippi State University in 1981 and a masters’ in urban planning from City College of New York in 1984.
Image by John Jacobson.