30-year deal keeps Rainiers at Cheney Stadium

The Tacoma Rainiers will continue playing baseball in Cheney Stadium for the next 32 years, under a lease agreement approved by the Tacoma City Council this week.

Although the minor-league ball club�s lease hinges on major upgrades to the city-owned ballpark by March 2011, the City Council has all but approved a bond issue to cover the bulk of a $30 million renovation plan.

Several members of the council, which will vote on the bond measure next week, gushed with nostalgia about shagging balls and eating hotdogs at the nearly 50-year old ballpark before unanimously approving the lease deal late Tuesday.

�Cheney Stadium is a community asset, whether you�re a baseball fan or not,� Councilman Rick Talbert said. �The value that the city of Tacoma gets, even if you don�t go (to games), add to the quality of life.�

City and team officials say the Rainiers will cover most of the $28 million in bond debt for stadium renovations over the next 25 years through increased rent paid by the team and additional revenues generated by games at the ballpark.

But a good portion of that money � roughly a third of the annual debt payments � will come directly from fans, via increased admissions and concessions taxes and up to a 50-cent facility fee added to each ticket.

�We�re not writing a big check up front,� team president Aaron Artman said Wednesday. �But if the Rainiers weren�t there � none of that tax revenue would be coming in. That�s a big part of our contribution.�

Under terms of the lease, the Rainiers will pay $500,000 in annual rent as Cheney Stadium�s primary tenants through September 2041. From that rent payment, $50,000 will go into a stadium capital maintenance fund to help cover big-ticket ballpark upgrades as needed.

The lease obligates the city to renovate the ballpark with amenities and improvements including new seating for 8,000 fans, 16 luxury suites, a kid�s play area, outfield berm seating and eight to 10 dugout suites � in-the-ground seating areas below the ballpark�s front-rows.

The remodeled ballpark also must boast a new team shop, club-level restaurant, dugouts, team clubhouse, press box and substantially more rest rooms and concession stands.

Kirby Schlegel, who heads the Rainiers� ownership group, said baseball tickets will remain affordable.

�There�s going to be a lot of new amenities and pricing will change in certain areas of ballpark,� Schlegel said Wednesday. �But we�re going to keep affordable seats for the fans and the City of Tacoma.�

Contractors will submit design proposals by the end of December. A public review of the plans, followed by the city�s final selection, will occur in early January.

Renovations likely will begin in March and must be completed by Opening Day 2011 or the contractor faces a $100,000 per game penalty, capped to a total of $500,000.

�We think we have an opportunity here to create a design that really speaks to the Northwest and the city of Tacoma,� Artman said. �I think you�ll see wood, you�ll see stone, you�ll see glass. You�ll see a lot of materials you don�t expect to see in a sports facility.�

In all, �team-generated revenues� � increased rent payments, taxes and fees from games, and the Rainiers taking over routine ballpark maintenance costs now shouldered by the city � will cover about $17 million of the $28 million bond debt, Artman said.

The non-profit Cheney Foundation has committed another $5 million over the next five years to help cover debt service � a donation that, in part, is motivated to preserve the ballpark�s name.

The city will pick up the rest of the tab � about $6 million in bond debt to be covered over time by revenues from non-baseball events at the ballpark and annual payments from the general fund.

Once the bonds are issued, the city�s annual debt payments will start at about $935,000 in 2010 and balloon to about $1.6 million over time, city finance director Bob Biles said. Over the life of the 25-year bond issue, ballpark revenues are projected to increase, keeping pace with rising annual payment obligations.

�It�s easily the most complicated bond issue I�ve ever been involved in,� Biles said.

An additional $2 million that is not a part of the bond issue � money Pierce County paid to Tacoma for the city�s stake in the County-City building � also will go toward the $30 million renovation.

Aside from ball games, the city will organize about a half dozen concerts at the ballpark each year, said Mike Combs, the city�s public assembly facilities director. From those events, the city has a goal of generating more than $100,000 per year, most to be paid toward ballpark bond debt, Combs said.

Opened in 1960, Cheney Stadium has not had a ballpark-wide renovation in its history, city and team officials say. Over the years, most upgrades have come piecemeal, including recent additions of a new playing field and scoreboard.

Rainiers and city officials say the team did not give the city an ultimatum if the stadium wasn�t renovated. Rather, both parties say they recognized the need to improve the park to make minor-league baseball a long-term success in Tacoma.

News Tribune staff writer Peter Callaghan contributed to this report.

Lewis Kamb: 253-597-8542

lewis.kamb@thenewstribune.com