Several improvements were made prior to the Americans' 1886 season. The first scoreboard was a blackboard on which scores were displayed by writing figures in chalk. It was replaced with a larger board using painted tin squares which hung on hooks. In September 1885, Summer Street (Fifth Avenue) was raised, which necessitated raising the adjacent fence to prevent onlookers. An additional row of boards was placed atop the Jackson Street fence, and a second fence was erected around the entire park inside the existing fence to further prevent unpaid viewing of games over or through the fence. The first base side of the grandstand was covered with a roof.