Is Downtown Ballpark Just A Dream?

“Baseball is too much of a sport to be called a business, and too much of a business to be called a sport.”

Philip Wrigley, the longtime owner of both the Chicago Cubs and the chewing gum company, learned decades ago what proponents of a new minor-league ballpark on the banks of the Arkansas River are just now beginning to find out.

With a sparkling new baseball stadium for the Class AA Arkansas Travelers on the drawing table, North Little Rock boosters are facing a 3-2 count with the bases loaded, hoping to find a financial package that will clear the bases and please the masses.

An announcement was made last October that Little Rock financier Warren Stephens had donated 11 riverfront acres adjacent to 11 city-owned acres just east of the Broadway Bridge downtown to make room for a new, state-of-the-art replacement for the aging yet historic Ray Winder Field, the Travelers’ mid-town home. With the approval of Travelers’ General Manager Bill Valentine, who was once an outspoken opponent of relocating the team to a new stadium, the 6,000-seat stadium seemed all but a done deal.

Four months later, though, the biggest hurdle still looms: Who’s going to pay for it?

“I really feel like we’re extremely close to getting something together,” Terry Hartwick, president of the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, said last week. “We’ve done a lot of work and have already put money into finding ways to make this thing a reality. I’m not a big betting man, but I’d be willing to say there will be a pitch thrown out on opening day 2007.”

The group commissioned Convention Sports & Leisure of Dallas to compile area-specific information on the best way to finance a new downtown ballpark and to compare that information with similar projects in comparable cities. CSL is an advisory and planning firm that specializes in providing consulting services to the sports, entertainment and leisure industries.

So far, only a preliminary report has been returned, according to Joe Smith, North Little Rock’s city finance director, and there’s still more to come.

Mayor Pat Hays’ hopes of using tax-increment financing to help pay for the new park took a blow last month when Attorney General Mike Beebe handed down a decision that the 25 mills of school operating millage required by the state Constitution cannot be diverted to pay for improvements in a TIF district.

But Hays has remained optimistic that a combination of public and private money can somehow be sewn together to cover the price of a ballpark that’s estimated to cost in the range of $18 million-$20 million.

Diamond Dos

The most important part of building a downtown ballpark in North Little Rock, clearly, is coming up with the cash to pay for it. But there have already been major hurdles cleared in order to get the ball rolling, some of which were once considered next to impossible — including buy-in from the putative home team.

Valentine, the Travelers’ boss, told Arkansas Business as recently as 2003 that he’d much rather remodel Ray Winder Field than have the team leave the comfort of its nostalgic home.

“I don’t know what this stadium doesn??½t have that you would find in a new stadium,” he said back then. “[Arkansans have] got a little jewel here and they don’t even know it. It’s like Yankee Stadium of the minor leagues.”

Valentine even said that someone could build a brand-new park next to the Clinton Presidential Library and the Travelers wouldn’t move there even if “they handed us the keys.”

But a number of developments have swayed the conservative thinking of Valentine — including a dramatic decrease in revenue the club receives from Major League Baseball, which has dropped from as much as $250,000 a year down to only $60,000-$70,000 annually. There’s also a growing concern that MLB and Texas League officials could pull the plug on the team if plans to update Ray Winder Field’s facilities aren’t on the horizon. And Ray Winder’s lack of skyboxes, a big money-maker in the sports industry, isn’t helping matters, either.

So by October, Valentine had decided that if North Little Rock built it, the Travelers would come.

“Mayor Hays sold us on the idea when he shared his vision of a riverfront sports complex for central Arkansas that would be highly visible and easily accessible for fans and visitors,” he said. “We can’t wait for the first pitch.”

Travs Assistant General Manager Pete Laven said the team is trying to find a Texas League opponent to trade the 2006 All-Star Game, which is slated for Little Rock in 2006, in hopes of hosting the event at the new ballpark in 2007.

“So far we haven’t had anything solidified,” said Laven. “But we’re optimistic it’ll happen. If the ballpark opens in 2007, it would make sense to wait and have it in the new setting.”

Other things that are secured and certain for the future ballpark include the riverfront property, a design and architecture firm and approval from the North Little Rock City Council to pursue the plans.

Diamond Don’ts

Money isn’t the only question that remains, however. A study being conducted by HKS Inc. of Dallas will determine how deep builders can dig into the riverfront property before hitting water.

“It gets much more technical than you’d think,” said Hartwick. “That’s being determined as we speak. I’d like to say we’ll have all the pieces of the puzzle put together in the next month and a half.”

There are also a handful of details that will be handed down once those involved sit down and review the results of CSL’s study in the coming weeks. Some of those finer details include weighing the different options of ticket, vending and skybox costs and figuring out other ways to ensure the success of the project through carefully budgeting.

A construction manager will be chosen through a request for proposals, Hartwick said.

Parking is one detail Hartwick isn’t concerned about.

“Alltel Arena has 18,000 people at their place and it’s only a few blocks away,” he said. “There’s going to be plenty of parking, especially with the added convenience of the trolley and additional new parking in downtown Little Rock.”

Downtown Disappointment?

Thousands of studies have been done nationally that claim to prove ballparks improve economic development in downtown areas, but many experts say the results of the studies are often skewed towards those who pay for them — the proponents.

“On average, professional sports reduces inflation-adjusted income per person by a small but statistically significant amount for every person in the metropolitan area, not just people who attended games,” said Keith Law, author of “The Imbalance Sheet: the New Stadium Fallacy.” “So professional sports do not form the basis of a viable local economic development program. Spending on professional sports is not new spending; it’s just a reallocation of local spending. How is it that owners and politicians manage to fudge the data so easily? Nobody ever goes back and looks at how many jobs were actually created or how much additional tax revenue was generated.”

But Hartwick disagrees. He says a new downtown ballpark in North Little Rock would not only give tourists another reason to stay an extra day, it would also shine a more positive light on the area, therefore attracting additional residents and business opportunities.

“A nice new ballpark serves as more than just a summertime attraction,” he said. “I’m talking about drawing an NCAA Super-Regional here, maybe high school state tournaments, possibly some type of exhibition games — and keeping it open year-round for tours, parties, rentals — the possibilities don’t stop with a 70-game minor league baseball schedule.”

Hartwick has support from Susan Wade, a spokeswoman for the Convention and Visitors Bureau in Springfield, Mo., where a new downtown ballpark opened last spring with much fanfare and community support.

“I don’t know what the data shows,” she said. “All I know is that our downtown in Springfield has new life and people are happy.”

Stadiums Springing Up in Texas League

Four of the eight teams in the Texas League have had new homes within the past three years, including $20-$30 million projects in Frisco and Round Rock, Texas, and Springfield, Mo.

All are enjoying larger crowds and a boost in development to the areas surrounding those facilities.

Central Arkansas and Springfield share a lot in common, including similar populations in their metropolitan statistical areas and the fact that the St. Louis Cardinals’ Class AA team that used to be affiliated with Arkansas is about to begin its inaugural season as the Springfield Cardinals.

Springfield’s new downtown ballpark, Hammons Field, cost local hotel magnate John Q. Hammons roughly $32 million to build and features seating for 8,000, 28 luxury suites, a souvenir shop, indoor batting cages, and separate clubhouses for the Cardinals and the stadium’s other tenant, the Southwest Missouri State Bears.

“There’s no question that the addition of the baseball stadium has drawn more people downtown to live, work and play,” said Susan Wade, a spokeswoman for the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. “There’s also a more vibrant nightlife and generally a more festive atmosphere.”

But Springfield has made more of an effort than just the addition of a ballpark. The city also has a new convention center, ice arena and parking center, all within the boundaries of another focus of downtown development — Jordan Valley Park.

“The park is right in the middle of downtown, with lots of green space and room for concerts and that sort of thing,” added Wade. “All of that combined has made for a whole new attitude about being downtown.”

With Springfield’s proximity to St. Louis, which is only a 20-minute flight, the Cardinals’ success in their new home is all but guaranteed.

More than 4,000 season tickets have already been sold and all 28 luxury suites at the ballpark are leased at $40,000 per year.

Plans for North Little Rock’s stadium call for 24 suites that will secure the team $150,000 per year.