Arvest Ballpark Maintenance Costs Growing

Sunday, November 25, 2012

— Renovation and maintenance at Arvest Ballpark will run over $100,000 for the first time since it opened, but that’s below projected costs.

Arvest Ballpark is the home of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, a minor league affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Springdale built the baseball stadium after a bond program was approved in 2006.

By The Numbers

Ballpark Maintenance

Requested Arvest Ballpark capital maintenance items:

-Infield Turf: $40,000

-Concession Signs: $15,000

-Concession outlets: $1,500

-Parking lot restriping: $7,600

-Painting: $10,000

-Locker room floors: $14,500

-Store light fixtures: $3,500

-Suite renovation: $64,000

-Concrete repair: $10,000

Total: $168,100

Source: City of Springdale

A fund was created to pay for maintenance on the ballpark with rental payments from the Naturals going into the fund. The city’s Public Facility Board oversees expenditures from the fund.

“This fund was created to make sure no more taxpayer money would go to keep up the ballpark,” said Perry Webb, president of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce. The chamber provides staffing for the facility board.

Rental payments, which started at $325,000, are banked until needed for maintenance. The fund also pays insurance on the ballpark. The balance of the fund was $1.15 million at the start of 2012, according to a city report.

An expense projection — made by ballpark architects HOK Sports — lines out the estimated expense costs for 20 years. The maintenance costs requested by the Naturals have been less each year than the estimations, said Wyman Morgan, city director of administration.

“I think we have been good stewards of the public’s money,” said Eric Edelstein, Naturals general manager. “We’re not asking for every cent on the list. We’re just asking for what is needed.”

This year, the big items are replacing the infield turf, replacing concession signs with digital signs, painting the locker rooms and renovating the suites. The estimated cost is $168,100.

The projection, called the expense matrix, calls for spending $192,150 between the end of the 2012 season and the start of 2013 baseball. The big expected expenses were replacing the sod on the entire field, exterior finishes, concrete repair and replacing bulbs on the light towers.

Only the infield sod needs replacing, Edelstein said, lowering that cost from about $60,000 to $40,000. The costs for concrete repair and restriping the parking lot were also lower. The facility board at a meeting last week questioned renovation of the suites, saying that wasn’t a maintenance issue.

“We have an obligation to the public to spend this money wisely,” said Jim Crouch, board chairman. “Is this something we should do or the team should do?”

The vision for the team, Edelstein said, isn’t to keep the ballpark to 2008 standards, but to make improvements that would adopt standards used for new ballparks.

“We now have too many boxes,” Edelstein said. “When the ballpark was built, that was the standard. With the economic problems in the country, nobody builds that many suites.”

The ballpark was built with 25 skyboxes which were rented for the season. Companies have cut back now on renting, leaving some boxes open, Edelstein said.

At A Glance

Annual Costs

Yearly cost of Arvest Ballpark maintenance

-2008: $2,115

-2009: $1,798

-2010: $5,345

-2011: $86,104

-2012: $192,150*

*Cost in 2012 is an estimated maximum expense.

Source: City of Springdale

Team officials want to expand the size of some suites and sell tickets for individual seats.

That sounds like a good idea, said Philip Taldo, a Springdale businessman who worked to bring a baseball team to the city.

“I know some of those boxes have been empty,” Taldo said. “I think it would be a win for the city and the team to get more people in for games.”

Walter Turnbow, a board member, said he supports the team because they have shown fiscal responsibility. His support would change, if that responsibility changed, he said.

“I’ll be the first one to rip your britches if you try to take advantage of us,” Turnbow said

Edelstein said the team wanted to be careful with the money in the fund.

“We know, if all the money is spent, we’ll have to pay for any maintenance,” Edelstein said. “The city isn’t responsible for anything once that money is gone.”