Baseball stadium could get $30 million fix up

tacoma: Board to talk about ballpark upgrades

LEWIS KAMB; The News Tribune | • Published November 09, 2009

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Tacoma – Plans for major renovations to minor-league Cheney Stadium appear headed for home, as the Tacoma City Council this month will consider a bond package to help fund the $30 million public-private project.

If the plan comes in safely, construction on the first widespread face-lift to the nearly 50-year-old ballpark could begin as early as March, said Mike Combs, director of the city’s public assembly facilities.

“It’s a renovation, but when it’s done, Cheney Stadium will look like a brand new facility,” Combs said.

Renovations are likely to include a new grandstand superstructure, roof and concourse, as well as new concession stands, seats, luxury suites and a restaurant to be open year-round, Combs said.

Locker rooms, dug-outs and press boxes also will be improved and expanded, he said, and current plans include adding a public meeting area and permanent space dedicated to housing the ballpark’s exclusive “Gold Club.”

The upgrades, in turn, will help keep the Triple-A Rainiers baseball club playing in Tacoma for most of the next three decades, city and team officials say.

Rainiers ownership said it did not threaten to move the team if the stadium upgrades weren’t made. But team president Aaron Artman noted a long-term lease now in the works to keep the team in town for 25 to 30 years was “largely predicated upon renovations to Cheney Stadium.”

“There wasn’t any ultimatum,” added Artman. “It was really recognition by both parties – the city and team ownership – that these renovations are long overdue.”

The rehab’s funding plan includes a $28 million city bond issue and about $2 million set aside for stadium improvements from the city’s sale of its stake in the City-County Building to Pierce County, said city finance director Bob Biles.

In all, the city will pay about 30 percent of the debt service over the life of the 25-year general obligation bond issue, Biles said, while the Rainiers and other private investors will cover the remaining 70 percent.

“The private side will be carrying a large burden of that financing overall,” Artman said.

A sizeable chunk of the debt obligation would be covered by increased revenue generated by the ballpark, Biles said, including from additional admissions, taxes, fees and rent payments yielded by the new facilities.

Rainiers’ officials said the team plans to cover its contribution to the ballpark, which last year set an all-time attendance record, from increased ticket revenues, but the team hasn’t said how much ticket prices might go up.

“There’s always going to be affordable pricing at Cheney Stadium no matter how dramatic the renovations are,” Artman said.

The nonprofit Cheney Foundation is also raising money and hopes to contribute from $2 million to $6 million in private donations for the project, said foundation president Brad Cheney.

“I truly believe that having a Triple A baseball team serves our community well,” said Cheney. “If the private sector can step up and help preserve that for generations to come in Tacoma, I’m certainly going to do what I can to support that.”

The foundation’s financial help also is partly motivated by preservation of the family’s name on the historic structure, Cheney said. Cheney’s father and the stadium’s namesake, Ben Cheney, helped build the ballpark that dates to 1960.

“Certainly, our family has an interest in seeing the name remain Cheney Stadium,” Cheney said. “I guess that’s part of the reason why we want this renovation and this team to succeed.”

The inside bond issue does not require voter approval. A public hearing on part of the proposal is set for the Tacoma City Council meeting on Tuesday. The council will then consider the measure during its Nov. 17 and 24 meetings, with the city seeking to close the financing deal by mid-December, Biles said.

There appears to be support for the renovation project within and outside of city channels.

“We’re talking about some fundamental changes to the roof and concourse, and those are parts of the stadium that haven’t been upgraded in 50 years,” said Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma. “Some people feel this is long overdue.”

And, unlike in past years when he’s favored a completely new ballpark to a re-tooled Cheney Stadium, Pacific Coast League President Branch Rickey III said he fully supports the renovation plan.

“The initial plans I’ve seen – the preliminary drawings and sketches – are a quantum leap over what I had envisioned being able to build around the existing structure,” Rickey said.

Rickey, who in the past has seemed tepid about Tacoma’s baseball future, said the city now figures prominently in the recently expanded 16-team PCL that sprawls across three time zones. League teams are “tied to commercial air transportation,” he said, with clubs such as Fresno at times having to truck equipment hundreds of miles to the nearest airport.

“Do we have some place that is more attractive for us than Tacoma right now? No,” Rickey said.