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Sprindale Minor League Sports Complex and Minor League Baseball Stadium

mcheiss

By mcheiss
in Northwest Arkansas

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mcheiss Metropolitan Area

mcheiss

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It's just going to hurt concessions which is what Springdale actually makes their money back on since ticket sales mostly will go to the Riches. On the surface it doesn't sound bad but it all depends on how the seating's arranged. Most adults that go to minor league baseball games want to have a beer. It can get a bit dull otherwise and games at Ray Winder never got "rowdy".
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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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They're probably talking about a family section where alcohol won't be permitted. I like the idea as I'd hate to have some guy sitting behind us with beer breath yelling and spitting over my son. I like a beer too and if I want one I'll just have to enjoy it at the concession area or the bar. Most likely there will be a restaurant/bar overlooking the the ball field.
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mcheiss Metropolitan Area

mcheiss

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That won't work well. More likely 80% of the stadium will be open to do what you want like at any ballpark and a small section will be designated as "alcohol free". You can't really designate to box seat/season ticket holders that they can't have a beer in their seats, IMO. Limiting it to just the restaurant would cost you millions in revenue.

Think about it. Tickets to the game are going to run around $5, special promotions might not make it free or $2. Beers are $5 a piece. Sell three beers to a person and you're getting $20 from that person instead of $5.

I'll take my son to minor league baseball and drink a couple of beers at the game. I won't drink 10 or anything and I certainly won't get inebriated. That's kind of the norm at those games. It costs too much to drink heavily and they generally don't offer hard liquor at minor league stadiums, just beer.

I like the idea of the natural wood and stone, I'm looking forward to the final design.

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edensfall Whistle-Stop

edensfall

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Okay let's see if I can get some activity going while Matt and Mike are busy elsewhere. More info is slowly coming out on the stadium. I think most of us have heard a nature theme will be used. There's talk of using a lot of lumber and stone. They're also trying to keep that area as untouched as possible. But they will have to fill in a pond that will eventually be the outfield. Not sure when more renderings will be released. Sounds like they'll try to finalize the renderings later this month.
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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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Dont hold your breath if your thinking that area will remain virtually untouched, several home owners and Georges are waiting with baited breath until their land prices go up even more after the stadium is built, look for another huge restaurant row, another lifestyle center, several office towers, more and more upper class hotels, and more subdivisions. BTW, Tontitown is finally getting the sewer lines running down 412, 112, and barrington rd, youll see a huge explosion of development down the 412 corridor once the sewer lines are in place, not to mention the land value is alot cheaper in tontitown, as well as flat and easily developable, but sadly enough, Tontitown will just turn into another outstretched section of Springdale.
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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Maybe I just overlooked it but I don't think I've seen any estimates on how seating there was going to be. Anyone seen or heard about how much seating there will be? I heard the new ballpark for the Travelers in North Little Rock is going to have 5,000. Sounds like that's smaller than their old ballpark and it certainly places it on the lower end on seating for a AA ballpark. But I'm really not sure if they would do more than that up here or not.

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mcheiss Metropolitan Area

mcheiss

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I mean, if you really want to catch a whole lot of people attending sporting events the area adjacent to the arena would be better (there's already a lot of stuff nearby at Pinnacle, though). Even better would be the area south of the UA campus where thousands of basketball, football, and baseball fans are around pretty much year-round.

Ultimately, I guess I think developing that stuff out there - especially major hotels, a restaurant row (aside from fast food), and office towers seems like folly to me. NWA's getting a little saturated and that's NOT the area I think anyone sees as the next booming part of the region. I think Springdale and the Georges have a plan to compete with the other NWA cities but it sounds like a recipe for some investors to lose their arses to me.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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Maybe I just overlooked it but I don't think I've seen any estimates on how seating there was going to be. Anyone seen or heard about how much seating there will be? I heard the new ballpark for the Travelers in North Little Rock is going to have 5,000. Sounds like that's smaller than their old ballpark and it certainly places it on the lower end on seating for a AA ballpark. But I'm really not sure if they would do more than that up here or not.
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masons_dad1 Town

masons_dad1

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I don't know why they think that kind of development will happen around a stadium, it certainly isn't true of other minor league stadia around the country. The exception, I guess, is that stadia in downtown kind of interact with a synergy to help developments along there but if they weren't going to built anyway the volume of people that a new minor league stadium brings won't support much.
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zman9810 Burg

zman9810

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I don't think the area around the ballpark will be successfully developed without better access to I540. Springdale's master street plan shows the southern corridor street crossing over I540 but without an interchange. Without an interchange there the only real access to the ballpark area is from the north off 412, which is already heavily congested. Traffic from the other NWA cities will use the 412 interchange which is overloaded now. In the other directions are narrow two lane roads that won't handle traffic from the rest of NWA. The Watkins Ave. overpass is too close to the 412 interchange to make it an interchange.

If the plans I've heard about for a waterpark, arena, resturants, hotels, retail and a possible 15,000 residents for that area to happen a I540/ southern corridor interchange needs to be planned now. The Victory Family Worship Center just to the east of I540 already has plans for a major expansion where an interchange would be built. There are residents of the high dollar subdivisons in southwest Springdale that are against an interchange because it would bring more traffic through their area. The dominant business interests in Springdale have already altered the southern corridor plans once.

There was a discussion in another thread about why Springdale was developed the way it has. I think the answer is that Springdale is more governed by the dominant business interests and religious leaders than it is by the elected officials. Until there are leaders who will look out for the overall community good and less for certain sectors, Springdale's planning will be shortsighted. The last election was a step in the right direction. Hopefully the future will see other leaders elected that will help the ballpark area and Springdale as a whole realize it's potential.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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I don't think the area around the ballpark will be successfully developed without better access to I540. Springdale's master street plan shows the southern corridor street crossing over I540 but without an interchange. Without an interchange there the only real access to the ballpark area is from the north off 412, which is already heavily congested. Traffic from the other NWA cities will use the 412 interchange which is overloaded now. In the other directions are narrow two lane roads that won't handle traffic from the rest of NWA. The Watkins Ave. overpass is too close to the 412 interchange to make it an interchange.

If the plans I've heard about for a waterpark, arena, resturants, hotels, retail and a possible 15,000 residents for that area to happen a I540/ southern corridor interchange needs to be planned now. The Victory Family Worship Center just to the east of I540 already has plans for a major expansion where an interchange would be built. There are residents of the high dollar subdivisons in southwest Springdale that are against an interchange because it would bring more traffic through their area. The dominant business interests in Springdale have already altered the southern corridor plans once.

There was a discussion in another thread about why Springdale was developed the way it has. I think the answer is that Springdale is more governed by the dominant business interests and religious leaders than it is by the elected officials. Until there are leaders who will look out for the overall community good and less for certain sectors, Springdale's planning will be shortsighted. The last election was a step in the right direction. Hopefully the future will see other leaders elected that will help the ballpark area and Springdale as a whole realize it's potential.

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