Fate of Drillers' home in Tulsa at stake as council prepares to vote

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City),  Jul 10, 2008  by Heather Caliendo

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The future of the Tulsa Drillers could be thrown a curveball.

Last month, city officials presented a plan to build a $60 million stadium downtown in the Greenwood District. The ballpark would be the new home to the Drillers, a Double-A minor league team that currently plays at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds. The Drillers play about 70 home games in a season, averaging about 5,000 fans per game, according to the city. The stadium would seat 6,200 fans and include 25 luxury suites.

Steve Densa, director of media relations for Minor League Baseball, said a new minor league facility standard was set in the early '90s and since then there has been a boom of new facilities - over 100 have been built. Densa said a spike in attendance is one incentive to build a new stadium. The Arkansas Travelers saw their attendance double within the first year of building a new facility. Densa said most are built to host non-baseball events throughout the year such as corporate meetings, concerts and wedding receptions.

"Obviously it's nice to have a new stadium, it's nice for the community and it's something to be proud of," he said. "It's a nice destination for the community to go to."

To move forward with Tulsa's stadium project, the Tulsa City Council has to renew the city's business improvement district with an amendment to assess property around the stadium site at 6 1/2 cents per square foot.

Fifty percent of the stadium's cost would be paid through private donations, 32 percent through assessment fees and 8 percent through the Drillers' lease agreement.

The City Council is hosting a public hearing and will vote tonight. If approved, the renewal will go into effect July 1.

But if the city does not approve the renewal, the Drillers have a whole other ballgame on their hands.

For a while, Jenks was the standout among contenders vying to be the Drillers' next home. In 2007, Chuck Lamson, Tulsa Drillers owner, signed a nonbinding letter of intent for a 7,000-seat stadium to be built south of the Creek Turnpike in Jenks.

But the city of Tulsa was not ready to have their home team play out of the city. On Jan. 22, Mayor Kathy Taylor and Lamson entered an exclusive agreement to negotiate terms to bring the Drillers downtown.

Still, if downtown does not pan out, the Drillers could look toward Jenks again.

Annette Bowles, president of the Jenks Chamber, said she does not know anything about prospective ballpark plans for Jenks.

"From the chamber standpoint we don't really know what the plans are - haven't heard anything," she said.

But she did give support to downtown.

"Whatever is good for Tulsa downtown, that helps all of us out," she said.

The Drillers' current home is the oldest ballpark in the Texas League and one of the oldest in minor league baseball. The Drillers' lease expires in 2009.

Densa said while every ballpark scenario is different, many clubs that remain in the same stadium still tend to do well.

"It can be viewed either way, if they sign another lease with the city and stay where they are it's up to them to market themselves correctly because they are just like every business," he said.

Cynthia Reid, vice president of marketing and communications at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, said Oklahoma City saw the need to build a new stadium because the old ballpark fell below Triple-A standards. She said the city either had to upgrade the stadium or lose the team.

So the Bricktown Ballpark opened in 1998, and the minor league team got a new name - the RedHawks. Reid said saying goodbye to a sports venue can present mixed feelings, but the new ballpark is seen in a positive light.

"Having a ballpark downtown has been an instigator for a lot of great things for downtown and Bricktown," she said. "It's been a magnet for people, a real catalyst for other development and the same thing can happen for Tulsa."

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