Price Cutter Park draws interest

The Ozark stadium, owned by former Springfield-Ozark Mountain Ducks owner Horn Chen, sat unoccupied after the Ducks left town following the 2004 season. But this summer saw renewed activity there, as former Ducks General Manager Brad Eldridge has volunteered to organize various youth, high school, college and community baseball games and tournaments.

“We’ve probably had 40 to 50 events out there this summer,” said Eldridge, now a Re/Max real estate agent and Ozark alderman.

Eldridge anticipates continued activity next year, including car rallies, motorcycle rallies and a possible fund-raising event with Ozark High School. He hopes to have 75 to 100 events at the facility in 2006.

Meanwhile, there’s been discussion of a possible sale of the park to Council of Churches of the Ozarks Foundation.

“Like many people, you drive down and you see the park, and we’re trying to figure out how it might fit into our program,” said Foundation President Richard Dunn.

Eldridge and Dunn said that the discussions were in the early stages.

“They’ve shown great interest, and we’re trying to pursue that,” Eldridge added. “They would be a great owner – they do many events over the course of the year to raise money for several different charities in the community.”

The stadium’s current owner, however, may still have plans of his own for the park. Chen’s attorney, Chip Sheppard of Carnahan, Evans, Cantwell & Brown, spoke about Chen’s plans in closed session during the Sept. 19 Ozark Board of Aldermen meeting. Sheppard later said he is not at liberty to talk about Chen’s plans.

Eldridge, however, said he’s sure Chen wants the best for the stadium.

“He hated it that the team left last year,” he said. “It was unfortunate, but he was the one who ended up biting the bullet on a lot of expenses. He wants the stadium to survive, keep going, and I’m sure he wants to get baseball back in there.”

Chen did lose money when the Ducks left town, as they backed out of a lease for the park. The team also had debts of more than $100,000 with companies that provided signage and promotional giveaways, as well as a $17,000 debt to Morris Group Properties that led to the team’s offices being raided by Christian County Sheriff officials in January.

And despite the presence of the Springfield Cardinals, Eldridge said he’d still like to see minor-league baseball at Price Cutter Park.

“If it’s feasible, if it fits, that’s something that will be looked at in the future,” he said.