The most highly anticipated amenity in recent Camden Yards history trekked cross-country in 135 pieces.

Built in South Dakota and hauled to Birdland, pieces of videoboard lined Eutaw Street in February. A crane then lifted each slab, one by one, and placed the pieces on a built-out steel structure in the Oriole Park outfield, where crews put them together.

“Think of it as a puzzle, right?” said Phil Hutson, the Maryland Stadium Authority vice president of capital projects for the Camden Yards Sports Complex.

The state of Maryland earmarked $1.2 billion for improvements to Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium in 2022. The first wave of baseball stadium upgrades, which totaled about $135 million, is now complete. At opening day on Thursday, fans will notice new social spaces, new TVs, an upgraded sound system and, most noticeably, a massive new videoboard and ribbon boards around the ballpark.

The center field board is roughly 7,500 square feet — the size of 800 55-inch TVs. That moves the Orioles from having the smallest screen to the 12th biggest in baseball.

“For us, it was never about the biggest board or the baddest board,” said Catie Griggs, the Orioles’ president of business operations. Instead, the club hoped to modernize the ballpark while retaining the classic feel of Camden Yards.

The Orioles and their landlord, the stadium authority, worked with Daktronics — the world’s biggest manufacturer of large video screens, headquartered in South Dakota — to custom-build the mammoth board. They considered smaller and larger options before landing on the Goldilocks-sized one.

The board is fastened to the same steel structure that has long been in the outfield, which was supplemented to handle the larger screen. Crews began to redo the foundation last October.

Graphics seen in prior years had to be reimagined to fit a screen that’s 2 1/2 times larger.

“Everything you’re seeing had to be created for the new board,” Griggs said during a ballpark tour for media members Tuesday.

The field at Oriole Park has new grass, courtesy of the Los Angeles Rams, and its oft-criticized audio system got a lift, too. Additional speakers served as a Band-Aid solution last year, but all were replaced this year. The park now has 900 speakers.

Also new this year: $19 lower-level tickets on weekdays, a redesigned club level and an Under Armour-sponsored kids area with a new cleat statue. A space located in center field, PureWager Pavilion, can now be reserved by groups of up to 300 people. And the ballpark menu now includes the beloved local dish yak.

PureWager, now the exclusive betting partner of the Orioles, is a new online sportsbook that is not yet licensed to operate in Maryland. Its website indicates that it plans to launch in Maryland and other states soon, and its sponsorship with the Orioles appears to be one of its first forays into the market.

Other state-funded improvements will be less visible for the average fan. The Truist Club, a ritzy space located in the old press box with a beautiful view of the field, will accommodate 350 people and could generate new revenue for the club. A 40-game ticket package begins at $15,000, Orioles officials said.

Camden Yards was one of a handful of MLB parks without such a premium area, Griggs said. Yankee Stadium has thousands of upscale seats, she said, noting that the smaller scale of the upgraded area suits Baltimore.

The ballpark will continue to be upgraded next offseason. In total, the authority can authorize roughly $400 million in bonds for the stadium — and could access even more if the team agrees to extend its lease with the state.

“Ultimately, this has been about making sure that Camden Yards remains as iconic and as amazing for all of our fans looking forward as it is looking backwards,” Griggs said.