NORTH LITTLE ROCK -- North Little Rock survived Major League Baseball's effort to slash about 40 minor-league baseball teams, but its reward for making the cut is a mandate from MLB to spend millions of dollars on revamping Dickey-Stephens Park.
Dickey-Stephens Park, home of the Class AA Arkansas Travelers, is in need of upgrades and repairs, according to Travelers Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Rusty Meeks.
The ballpark, which is owned by North Little Rock through the Public Building Authority, is expected to foot some of the costs for fixing the field and facilities.
"We are required to have a playing field that is up to Major League Baseball standards," Meeks said. "The current field we have is not in compliance with these new standards from Major League Baseball, nor is our facility."
First on the list for Dickey-Stephens is upgrading its field, which has been plagued with sinkholes and flooding for years because of its location on the riverfront.
North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick said the city is in ongoing negotiations with the Travelers about the upgrades. The mayor said the city will likely fund the fixes to the field, which will cost around $5 million. Other improvements could cost around $11 million, Meeks said.
"Certainly the biggest issue is the sinkholes," Meeks said.
Who pays for the other improvements, including those for the clubhouse and scoreboard, is still up for negotiation, Hartwick said. Meeks would not comment on the specific upgrades that the Travelers are asking North Little Rock to pay for, saying only that it's under negotiation.
"The Travelers are in discussions about these requirements with the city, but at this time the Travelers are not permitted to discuss the specific requirements outside of discussions with the city which is the owner of the facility," Meeks said in an email.
Major League Baseball announced in February that it would restructure, taking a more direct role in overseeing the minor-league baseball system.
As one of the 120 minor-league teams that survived the cuts, the Travelers entered into an agreement that includes a requirement for "modernized facility standards better suited for professional athletes." Meeks said such upgrades to Dickey-Stephens Park need to be completed by 2023.
City Council Member Nathan Hamilton, a former season ticket-holder with the Travelers, said he supports funding upgrades to fix Dickey-Stephens Park. Hartwick said he supported upgrading the ballpark, hinting at the possibility that if the city doesn't pay for some of the improvements, then it could lose the team.
"No, I don't want to see it go anywhere else," Hartwick said. "I'm very involved in trying to keep it here."
Meeks said during last Monday's City Council meeting that the stadium fixes would not likely come before the 2022 season, which is expected to start in April.
The Travelers moved from Ray Winder Field in Little Rock to Dickey-Stephens Park in 2007. Hartwick, then the head of the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, pushed for construction of the stadium to lure the Travelers across the Arkansas River.
In 2005, North Little Rock voters approved a 1% sales tax to pay for the construction of a new ballpark, providing $28 million in funding.
Dickey-Stephens Park and the Travelers have become an attraction for North Little Rock, drawing hundreds of thousands of people to the city's downtown area every summer, Hartwick said.
The ballpark's scenic location includes views of Little Rock's skyline beyond the outfield wall. But while conveniently located in relation to North Little Rock and Little Rock's downtown areas, its placement near the Arkansas River also has been the cause of the numerous sinkholes that have plagued the ballpark.
"It's a great attraction," Hartwick said. "I just don't think I want to be the mayor that says we don't want them.
"I'm going to work very hard to keep the team here."