Redding's big dreams for fields

City hopes to lure tournaments to its replicas of big league ballparks.

By Clint Swett and Marcin Skomial -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, August 5, 2004

REDDING - From Sacramento, Fenway Park is just a three-hour cruise up Interstate 5. Same for Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field.

Those fabled baseball fields - or at least three-quarter-size versions of them - are the centerpieces of a new 30-acre recreation facility that Redding’s civic leaders here hope will help turn their city into a tourism destination - one that could lure recreational athletes from all over the nation. City officials estimate that even a dozen softball tournaments could bring in as much as $3 million a year from free-spending visitors.

Redding officials see the facility as a jewel in a civic crown that also includes the acclaimed Sundial Bridge, an aquatics center and a downtown art deco theater now in its last stages of refurbishment.

One month after its July Fourth opening, officials say Santiago Calatrava’s pedestrian span with its signature 217-foot-tall slanting "sundial" pylon has drawn thousands of out-of-town visitors.

"It’s been incredible. Our hotels are reporting that the bridge is the number-one attraction guests are asking about," said Bob Warren, manager of the Redding Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The facilities have been planned for use by Redding residents, too. The bridge has drawn locals as a gathering place. "They’ve embraced the bridge as their own," Warren said. "It’s wildly successful."

At the $19.6 million Redding Big League Dreams Sports Complex, the ball fields, an on-site restaurant, volleyball courts, batting cages, a 27,000-square-foot indoor roller hockey and basketball fieldhouse give the 85,000 Redding residents access to facilities that would be the envy of much larger cities.

The complex, which was primarily financed with a state grant and local redevelopment money, will be operated by Big League Dreams, a Chino Hills firm that has built and operates three similar parks in Southern California.

"I don’t think anyone envisioned how nice this was going to be," said Mike Warren, sitting in the restaurant whose large windows frame the three replica fields. "People walking through here are just in awe."

Indeed, anyone squinting out at the 30-foot-high Green Monster looming over left field at faux Fenway, or seeing the fake brick walls covered in plastic ivy at replica Wrigley could be forgiven for thinking - if only briefly - they’d been transported into a baseball mecca.

At a gala opening Saturday night, former baseball stars Maury Wills, Blue Moon Odom and Wally Joyner were among those flown in by private jet to christen the facility.

Unlike the real stadiums, the Redding versions feature just 250 seats that wrap around the backstop and dugouts of each field. Where outfield seats would be, the designers have installed plastic backdrops imprinted with pictures of fans.

The fields are sheathed in low-maintenance artificial turf that’s softer and much more forgiving than the green carpet found on many other artificial fields.

The base paths and pitching mounds can be quickly converted to accommodate games from T-ball to Little League to adult softball.
City officials and business leaders hope the Big League Dreams facility will make Redding a destination for softball tournaments, whose out-of-town teams would require hotel rooms, meals and other services.

Bob Warren estimates that a 50-team tournament that runs three or four days could generate $250,000 in spending. He thinks the complex could eventually lure at least a dozen tournaments a year.
BLD officials will attend a convention in Houston this fall to recruit tournaments to Redding.

Shanan Pasco, 24, of Red Bluff was already planning a return trip after her first visit Saturday.

"I thought it was wonderful, really romantic," she said as she walked the span with her husband and a few friends. "It was just a great place to go and be with people."

For more competitive activity, the city offers tourists the sporting complexes. Swimming events from around the West are being lured to the Olympic-size pool and aquatics center about three miles away from the new softball complex.

At the ballpark, BLD will keep all revenues for the first four years, including league and tournament fees, advertising, food and beverage concessions and the $2 admission fee (for players and spectators). It expects annual revenue of between $1 million and $1.8 million over the first three years, according to Redding city documents.

After four years, Redding will collect 6 percent of gross revenues for the remainder of the 40-year lease contract with BLD.

In return for all the revenue, BLD funds park operations, electricity, upkeep, recruits tournaments, organizes all league play and provides umpires and scorekeepers for each game.

Pat Kight, a Redding City Council member, said the community contemplated spending about $5 million on a much more modest facility. But when BLD pitched its replica parks idea, city officials were intrigued.

After landing $10 million in grants from a $2.6 billion parks bond that state voters approved in 2000, Redding cobbled together an additional $9.6 million from general funds, redevelopment money and other sources. The council passed the BLD proposal on a 4-1 vote in April 2001.

Redding resident Tony Zettler said when he walked past the entrance to the park last Saturday evening, he had a feeling he was in a professional baseball stadium.

"When you first walk in, it looks flush with green," said Zettler. "It’s just like a real stadium."