Hammons breaks ground without minor league team

John Q. Hammons has started to build it; the double-A team is yet to come.

Hammons quietly broke ground last month at Sherman Avenue and East Trafficway for his $20 million baseball stadium in the city's Jordan Valley Park.

While Hammons is making good on the promise of a ballpark, his guarantee of a minor league double-A team to call it home is still unfulfilled.

The word from Hammons is to have patience.

"I wouldn't be building a park if we weren't going to have a ball club," Hammons said. "I know exactly which one, but I'm not able to speak about it yet."

He said an announcement will be made next year far from the February 2002 announcement date he previously set.

Pick a league

Hammons confirmed the team will play for either the Texas League or the Southern League, but he would not say which teams he had contacted.

An official with the Southern League's office in Atlanta said it's not them.

"Right now we have no plans to go into Springfield, Missouri," said Lori Webb, director of administration for the Southern League. She cited geographic difficulties.

That leaves the Texas League as the logical geographic choice.

Texas League president Tom Kayser said he has been in pretty regular communication with Hammons because Missouri is in his territory. However, he would not speculate what team in his league might have interest in Springfield, and he declined to comment on any team's lease contracts or franchise availability.

For any team to call Springfield home, Kayser said, the club and its owner would have to decide to relocate, or Hammons would have to purchase the team and move it.

Still, the first step is getting the ballpark, Kayser said.

"Mr. Hammons is taking the major dilemma out of the equation here. If a ballpark isn't there, you're not going to get anything," he said. "Whether he gets it today, tomorrow or five years from now, he still has a better chance of attracting a club than anybody else that doesn't have a facility ready to go."

One team that St. Louis Cardinal fans here would hope to attract is the New Haven Ravens out of Connecticut. The Ravens are the Cardinals' double-A affiliate, but the team plays in the Eastern League.

According to team General Manager Adam Schierholz, this season's attendance figures are down at 2,700 on average and less than half of capacity which is leading the club's front office to listen to proposal offers.

"We're not actively pursuing anybody ... but we'll listen," he said.

Schierholz said that for his team to play in the Texas League, some realignment would have to take place, and that's not easy.

"There are so many complications," he said. "Everybody thinks it's so easy: We'll just build a stadium and put a team in it.' You've got a lot of things that tie your hands when you try to do that."

Things like territorial rights and league approvals and money, of course.

16 months of construction

Before minor league baseball can make its return to Springfield, 16 months of construction must occur.

The Killian Group is performing the site grading work for the field, which will continue for another three weeks. A general contractor has not been named, but Hammons said that should come in about three weeks, as well.

Hammons said structures should become visible next month.

Hammons Field will hold 8,000 fans, plus have room for 2,000 more on the outfield berm areas. There will also be 28 upper-deck luxury boxes, Hammons said.

The field is designed to be set below ground level, so fans entering at the street level will actually come in on the park's upper deck.

The complex also will have a separately constructed clubhouse for its two home teams a double-A affiliate and the Southwest Missouri State University's baseball team and an indoor batting facility. They will be located beyond the right field wall.

Filling seats

Once in operation, Hammons is hoping to pull people in from a 150-mile radius to fill the stands.

The trick to attracting fans, according to Jeff Lantz, director of media relations for the Iowa Cubs, is utilizing marketing techniques and promotional tactics like hosting concerts after games and bringing in the fan-favorite San Diego chicken twice a year.

Lantz works for the Chicago Cubs' triple-A club, which plays in Des Moines, Iowa. "It's up to the club to really sell it as family entertainment," he said.

It seems to be selling in Des Moines; the city has been home to a major-league affiliate for the past 33 years.

Lantz also said that finding other uses of the field helps to bring in additional revenues. Other games played there are from the high school, college and semi-pro levels. Celebrity softball games have also beefed up season sales, he said.

Hammons said that SMSU will play in his park starting in March 2004, and he has already considered holding outdoor events like concerts for additional revenue streams.

City benefits

Hammons said Springfield will see an increase in sales tax and hotel/motel tax revenues "because of all the activity. Right now, it's down in Branson ... instead of here."

But he declined to disclose the financial projections of the park. Hammons' pro forma hasn't made it to the desk of city Director of Finance Mary Mannix, either.

The city of Peoria, Ill., expects to see a return on its nearly $4 million investment of a new, privately owned stadium for the Peoria Chiefs, a Cardinals single-A team. O'Brien Field opened in downtown Peoria in May.

David Dobson, city director of economic development, said it's too early to tell what figures will be realized from O'Brien Field's operations, but the city is expecting increased revenues in sales tax and hotel/restaurant/amusement tax.

"What we're seeing are people who stay downtown and go to games may have a meal before or after, or go out for drinks afterwards," Dobson said. "We're seeing substantially more people downtown."

Like Hammons Field, Peoria's new ballpark is located in what was considered a dilapidated downtown area. Peoria Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Roberta Parks thinks the new ballpark will turn things around there.

"I firmly believe there will be spin-off development, but that doesn't happen in six months," she said. "I think you'll see more (downtown) living. You've got to have people living downtown to make it successful long term."

Those are good signs for Springfield, with its hopes to fully revitalize downtown hung on Jordan Valley Park's new facilities. It seems Springfield is even a little ahead on those fronts.

"The good news is Mr. Hammons is building what's going to be a fine ballpark," Kayser said.

"The better news will be when he's able to bring a club in to play. When that is nobody can say."

Nobody but Hammons.