They Will Build It As Ground-Breaking Approaches For Softball Complex, Boosters Hope That Public Support Will Generate Enough Money To Finish Job

The north Spokane lot is a prairie of dirt, but Pat Dalsanders has spent 21 months imagining it otherwise.

The white halo of lights reflecting off silver grandstands and softball jerseys. The smell of salty peanuts and the pungent odor of fresh cut grass. The dull echo of a home run.

“Can you see it?” Dalsanders asks, pointing at the dirt.

Dalsanders and the Spokane Metro Softball Association likely will break ground on the $2.3 million vision next week. The deluxe NorthPointe Softball Complex near the Division Street Y should be hosting games next summer on it’s six fields.

When it’s done, north Spokane will become a regional softball mecca, likely bringing in high-profile national tournaments and tourism dollars.

But full funding for the project also remains a vision. The softball association will have less than $200,000 - a 10th of the project cost - in the bank when it break ground and only verbal promises to provide the labor and some materials.

“Once we break ground, we think (donations) will really take off. Phenomenal growth,” said Dalsanders, an air traffic controller who volunteers 20 hours a week organizing the details of the NorthPointe complex.

His brother, Michael, the group’s fund-raising director, conceded, “You are selling on a leap of faith.”

In spite of wide public support of the project, the softball association is not likely to be bailed out by the city. The Spokane Parks Department already gave the group a sweetheart deal on the 33-acre site, formerly used as a sewer lagoon, worth $750,000. Rent is $1 a year.

That puts the burden on Michael Dalsanders. He has secured a promise from at least one local labor union, the Operating Engineers, to do all design, leveling and grading work for free.

Other unions, including bricklayers, electricians and plumbers, will likely follow suit. “We have committed to help where we can,” said Frank Forrest, executive secretary of the regional Building Trades Council. “I don’t know any union that would turn (Dalsanders’ request) down.”

An extraordinarily busy summer construction season could cause the unions to pull back from voluntary labor, Forrest said. “But we certainly don’t see that now.”

A Washington Water Power Co. subsidiary has tentatively agreed to install $500,000 in lighting, and then charge the softball association an annual rental fee.

But Dalsanders said last week that the utility had agreed to a loan, a description which bothers WWP’s Gerry Crooks.

“My concern is how he is presenting it,” said Crooks. “This isn’t a loan. All we are doing is as a business installing the lighting and charging an annual fee.”

An increase in league registration fees has boosted the softball association bank account, and gradual increases over the next four years will help pay for maintenance.

The Comstock Foundation will kick in $100,000 when the group has $300,000 in the bank. It now has about $180,000, said Pat Dalsanders.

Concerned about the softball association’s slim bank account, the city parks department is considering buying a bond that would act as an insurance policy if the group went broke during construction.

The $40,000 “performance attainment bond” would ensure a completed ball park by promising contractors payment, but the department is hesitant to spend the money. Parks board member Denny Hessian said he would be reluctant to approve that much money.

In spite of the financial concerns, moral support for the project is high. The parks department loves the concept. Adjacent business are supportive. Softball players are eager with anticipation.

About 14,000 players on more than 1,000 teams suit up in Spokane each year. A softball magazine rated Spokane as the No. 2 city in the nation for softball participation.

The city’s premiere facility, Franklin Park on North Division, is used constantly from sunup till sundown in spring and summer, said Pat Dalsanders. Heavy use makes for poor quality fields late in the summer.

“I am truly embarrassed at the quality of fields we have,” said softball association director Russ Sharp.

The NorthPointe complex will help make north Spokane the softball headquarters of the region. The softball association’s South Hill field will be turned over to youth sports, focusing attention on the 19 North Side fields.

A majority of the teams come from north Spokane residents and businesses, according to the softball association.

“Socially, I think it is good to have facilities further on the North Side. There is obviously a need for it with the growth up here,” said Reid Ziegler, president of the Ziegler Lumber Co., which owns a building across Holland Road. “More power to ‘em.”

Up to 50 teams a year are being turned away, Dalsanders said. National tournaments are being held in Coeur d’Alene and St. Maries which both have fields with regulation 300-foot fences.

He already has talked to three national organizations interested in tournaments at the NorthPointe complex. Most national tournaments bring in more than $500,000 to area business, according the softball association.

But those numbers, like full financing for the complex, are still dreams. Pat Dalsanders said the stress of coordinating the project has made him feel old. Had he known he would have been under constant pressure, having to take vacation days to attend meetings with city permitting boards, Dalsanders said he may not have taken on the project.

Still, he can clearly see a day when the softball association will have more than 500 teams playing at one of the best softball complexes in the West.

He points to the far corner of the lot. “There is where the parking lot will be, and the outfield fences are there… “

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo Map: Proposed northside softball complex

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FIELDS OF DREAMS More than 14,000 Spokane players on 1,000 teams pull on softball jerseys each year. The new $2.3 million NorthPointe Softball complex will cater to them with amenities including: Six 300-foot Amateur Softball Association-regulation fenced fields. State-of-the-art lighting. Full concessions. Paved parking for more than 400 vehicles. Air-conditioned press boxes. Nine automated batting cages. A four-acre neighborhood park and playground.