Kitchenlabs
09-21-2007, 11:23 PM
Published Friday | September 21, 2007
NCAA ties College World Series to new stadium
BY C. DAVID KOTOK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
A new downtown home for the College World Series won the blessing of the NCAA today, possibly closing the door on Rosenblatt as the series' home after 2010.
"In my mind, we are moving downtown," Mayor Mike Fahey said today after receiving word from the governing body of the NCAA.
Dennis Poppe, the NCAA's senior director for baseball and football, said today: "We have a sense of direction, and we are moving forward."
Staying at Rosenblatt no longer is part of any negotiations with the NCAA, Fahey said.
Poppe said the NCAA is enthusiastic about the city's plan to build a new ballpark downtown.
Fahey said that from this point forward his administration and College World Series of Omaha Inc. will work only on a downtown stadium. The administration wants the ballpark to be built on Lot D north of the Qwest Center Omaha.
"My hope is we can be playing ball there in 2011," Fahey said.
The current, five-year contract for the series expires after the 2010 games.
The city received word today from the NCAA that it is willing to commit to a long-term contract to keep the series in Omaha. The Mayor's Office wanted that assurance before moving forward with plans for new construction.
The NCAA said it would consider a 10-, 15- or 20-year agreement with the city. Fahey said he is confident from informal conversations that he can get the 20-year contract he wants for the city.
As the city has sought a long-term contract, the NCAA has put forth a wish list of things it needs in exchange for such an agreement. That list includes open concourses, a larger area for fan activities outside the stadium and access to more hotels and restaurants.
The city put forth one plan ? for a downtown stadium ? and that was endorsed by the NCAA today.
Neither the mayor nor CWS Inc. officials offered a cost estimate for a new stadium. The NCAA's action today allows the city to move ahead with determining specific design and cost estimates, Fahey said.
Rosenblatt has enjoyed wide public support, and a "Save Rosenblatt" campaign has been mounted. Opponents said today they are not giving up.
But Save Rosenblatt will not have a place at the bargaining table because the NCAA negotiates only with CWS Inc. and the city. The City Council does have to sign off on any contract.
Jack Diesing Jr., president of CWS Inc., was originally an advocate for the Rosenblatt site. But as information emerged that the current Rosenblatt would have to be torn down and rebuilt to meet NCAA requirements, Diesing endorsed the downtown plan.
The choice became "a new stadium downtown or a new stadium at Rosenblatt."
"When you put all the facts on the board, you have to take emotion out of it," Diesing said. "History, tradition and emotion are all good. But keeping the College World Series here in Omaha is No. 1."
To Fahey, locking in a long-term contact to keep the CWS in Omaha was the key. The NCAA accepted the need for more than the traditional five-year contract in its response.
City Council President Dan Welch said this morning that he would like to reserve final judgment until he speaks to the mayor. But, he said, "it's extremely important that the city retains the College World Series."
City Councilman Garry Gernandt, the council's leading opponent to a move from Rosenblatt, said he is not giving up on keeping the series at the stadium where it has been played since 1950.
"I think the battle has just begun," Gernandt said. "There are still some strategies that haven't been tried. . . . Anything is possible."
Diesing said all sides will move into "dotting the I's and crossing the T's" to make a downtown stadium and long-term contact a reality.
Those negotiations could conceivably break down over the details, Diesing said. "But right now we have no Plan B or Plan C," he said.
Among the problems with the current Rosenblatt is that fans can't see the action on the field while standing in line for a hot dog.
Stan Meradith, an architect at DLR Group, said Rosenblatt's needed upgrades are so extensive that it probably would cost more to retrofit the existing structure than to tear it down and rebuild. Meradith is working with the city on the baseball project.
"You would want to raze everything between the foul poles and build it back," Meradith said. "You probably could go in and make improvements without tearing it down, but the cost would be huge and the results would not be as good as if you started over."
Razing and rebuilding Rosenblatt would be a far more extensive project than the $26 million proposal to improve the stadium that surfaced this summer. That plan would have made minor improvements, such as renovating locker rooms and team dugouts.
It also involved acquiring private land around the stadium to create a clean zone where unauthorized advertising, merchandise and alcohol are prohibited.
Fahey said major benefits of a downtown stadium are that it would provide a "clean zone" with the surrounding convention center and arena property, space for a practice field and close proximity to hotels and restaurants ? all things that the NCAA has indicated it would like to have.
By contrast, there is only one hotel within walking distance of Rosenblatt Stadium, and Richard Lundt, president of the Metropolitan Hospitality Association, said that's not likely to change anytime soon.
"There is not enough happening at that site to keep a hotel busy all year," said Lundt, who is also general manager of the Omaha Marriott at Regency Circle.
Although the city could create a "clean zone" around a rebuilt Rosenblatt, there isn't enough space for practice fields, Fahey said.
There is no simple or cheap way to address one of Rosenblatt's biggest problems: narrow, enclosed concourses. Meradith, who designed Haymarket Park in Lincoln, said modern ballparks typically have open concourses that offer field views. NCAA officials have also expressed an interest in having open concourses. But that change would require a major reconfiguration of Rosenblatt and would be easier to tackle with a brand new stadium, Meradith said
NCAA ties College World Series to new stadium
BY C. DAVID KOTOK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
A new downtown home for the College World Series won the blessing of the NCAA today, possibly closing the door on Rosenblatt as the series' home after 2010.
"In my mind, we are moving downtown," Mayor Mike Fahey said today after receiving word from the governing body of the NCAA.
Dennis Poppe, the NCAA's senior director for baseball and football, said today: "We have a sense of direction, and we are moving forward."
Staying at Rosenblatt no longer is part of any negotiations with the NCAA, Fahey said.
Poppe said the NCAA is enthusiastic about the city's plan to build a new ballpark downtown.
Fahey said that from this point forward his administration and College World Series of Omaha Inc. will work only on a downtown stadium. The administration wants the ballpark to be built on Lot D north of the Qwest Center Omaha.
"My hope is we can be playing ball there in 2011," Fahey said.
The current, five-year contract for the series expires after the 2010 games.
The city received word today from the NCAA that it is willing to commit to a long-term contract to keep the series in Omaha. The Mayor's Office wanted that assurance before moving forward with plans for new construction.
The NCAA said it would consider a 10-, 15- or 20-year agreement with the city. Fahey said he is confident from informal conversations that he can get the 20-year contract he wants for the city.
As the city has sought a long-term contract, the NCAA has put forth a wish list of things it needs in exchange for such an agreement. That list includes open concourses, a larger area for fan activities outside the stadium and access to more hotels and restaurants.
The city put forth one plan ? for a downtown stadium ? and that was endorsed by the NCAA today.
Neither the mayor nor CWS Inc. officials offered a cost estimate for a new stadium. The NCAA's action today allows the city to move ahead with determining specific design and cost estimates, Fahey said.
Rosenblatt has enjoyed wide public support, and a "Save Rosenblatt" campaign has been mounted. Opponents said today they are not giving up.
But Save Rosenblatt will not have a place at the bargaining table because the NCAA negotiates only with CWS Inc. and the city. The City Council does have to sign off on any contract.
Jack Diesing Jr., president of CWS Inc., was originally an advocate for the Rosenblatt site. But as information emerged that the current Rosenblatt would have to be torn down and rebuilt to meet NCAA requirements, Diesing endorsed the downtown plan.
The choice became "a new stadium downtown or a new stadium at Rosenblatt."
"When you put all the facts on the board, you have to take emotion out of it," Diesing said. "History, tradition and emotion are all good. But keeping the College World Series here in Omaha is No. 1."
To Fahey, locking in a long-term contact to keep the CWS in Omaha was the key. The NCAA accepted the need for more than the traditional five-year contract in its response.
City Council President Dan Welch said this morning that he would like to reserve final judgment until he speaks to the mayor. But, he said, "it's extremely important that the city retains the College World Series."
City Councilman Garry Gernandt, the council's leading opponent to a move from Rosenblatt, said he is not giving up on keeping the series at the stadium where it has been played since 1950.
"I think the battle has just begun," Gernandt said. "There are still some strategies that haven't been tried. . . . Anything is possible."
Diesing said all sides will move into "dotting the I's and crossing the T's" to make a downtown stadium and long-term contact a reality.
Those negotiations could conceivably break down over the details, Diesing said. "But right now we have no Plan B or Plan C," he said.
Among the problems with the current Rosenblatt is that fans can't see the action on the field while standing in line for a hot dog.
Stan Meradith, an architect at DLR Group, said Rosenblatt's needed upgrades are so extensive that it probably would cost more to retrofit the existing structure than to tear it down and rebuild. Meradith is working with the city on the baseball project.
"You would want to raze everything between the foul poles and build it back," Meradith said. "You probably could go in and make improvements without tearing it down, but the cost would be huge and the results would not be as good as if you started over."
Razing and rebuilding Rosenblatt would be a far more extensive project than the $26 million proposal to improve the stadium that surfaced this summer. That plan would have made minor improvements, such as renovating locker rooms and team dugouts.
It also involved acquiring private land around the stadium to create a clean zone where unauthorized advertising, merchandise and alcohol are prohibited.
Fahey said major benefits of a downtown stadium are that it would provide a "clean zone" with the surrounding convention center and arena property, space for a practice field and close proximity to hotels and restaurants ? all things that the NCAA has indicated it would like to have.
By contrast, there is only one hotel within walking distance of Rosenblatt Stadium, and Richard Lundt, president of the Metropolitan Hospitality Association, said that's not likely to change anytime soon.
"There is not enough happening at that site to keep a hotel busy all year," said Lundt, who is also general manager of the Omaha Marriott at Regency Circle.
Although the city could create a "clean zone" around a rebuilt Rosenblatt, there isn't enough space for practice fields, Fahey said.
There is no simple or cheap way to address one of Rosenblatt's biggest problems: narrow, enclosed concourses. Meradith, who designed Haymarket Park in Lincoln, said modern ballparks typically have open concourses that offer field views. NCAA officials have also expressed an interest in having open concourses. But that change would require a major reconfiguration of Rosenblatt and would be easier to tackle with a brand new stadium, Meradith said