When it comes to mandated Toyota Field additions, Madison is signaling it plans to stretch a single into a double.

City planners are recommending councilors approve a new two-story building that will rise outside left field of the $46 million home of the Rocket City Trash Pandas, which played their first game there in 2021.

That’s a step up from the plan in May, when a divided Madison City Council voted to move ahead with a one-story building addition that will house a visitor’s locker room and facilities for female staff and umpires – upgrades required by Major League Baseball to be in place or underway by April 2026. The cost of the work was estimated then at around $7 million.

The vote closed months of sometimes tense discussions among councilors, who ultimately rejected a four-story option – at a cost of up to $30 million — that would have included expanded seating and event space on top of the locker facilities. Stadium owner Ballcorp LLC and Madison’s own financial adviser had maintained the pricier option would pay for itself through additional tax revenue.

The one-story addition approved in May was sufficient to meet the looming compliance deadline imposed by Major League Baseball — and left open the possibility of later adding additional stories, as the city is now weighing. The Trash Pandas are the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.

The proposed building would consist of about 15,600 square feet, 8,200 at field level and 7,200 on the stadium’s main concourse level, according to an online Planning Commission report.

The field level would consist of the locker facilities, including a training room, commissary, laundry, office, bullpen toilet, and storage and mechanical spaces.

“The proposed building addition and related improvements will bring the facility into conformity with MLB facility standards for minor league ballparks,” planning staff wrote in the report. “The proposed improvements for Level 2 will provide additional space for fans to gather and for events in this new open-air section.”

The Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on recommending approval of the general “location, character and extent” of the building at its meeting Thursday.

Madison is seeking bidders for the project, with proposals due Aug. 5.