Will state play ball?
OLYMPIA – Making a pitch that fell short of the plate last year, some of the state’s most liberal and most conservative lawmakers are trying to get millions of tax dollars for repairs to Washington’s five minor league baseball parks.
“We have east, west, Republican, Democrat,” said Paul Barbeau, general manager of the Spokane Indians baseball team. “There’s a strong coalition to try to get this done.”
Spokane wants $8 million to repair the decades-old concrete risers that support seating at Avista Stadium.
“We’re not trying to build a new stadium,” Barbeau said. “We love our location, we love the history of the facility. There have been generations of people coming here.”
He said that Tacoma, home to the Rainiers, is seeking $10 million for roof work and other repairs. Everett, Yakima and the Tri-Cities are also seeking state cash. The proposals total $25 million. All the stadiums, he said, are publicly owned.
“We certainly don’t expect $25 million this session, but we’d like to get started,” said Barbeau.
Senate lawmakers say they’d like to free up some money. In a recent speech to the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said the request “has good prospects.”
The Senate is looking at $7 million or so this year, Ways and Means Chairwoman Sen. Margarita Prentice said this week.
“I’m very sentimental about baseball and its presence in communities other than Seattle,” said Prentice, D-Renton. Minor league games – with affordable tickets, small ballparks and accessible players – help communities and families bond, she said.
“As soon as I heard this, I said we’ve got to do this,” she said. “It’s just a question of how.”
The proposal faces tougher sledding in the House of Representatives.
“I don’t know right now,” Rep. Hans Dunshee said of the proposal’s chances in his construction-money committee. “I’m not getting a lot of pressure building for it now. I’m getting some.
“It’s good stuff. I’d rather put money there than the Mariners,” said Dunshee, D-Snohomish. But $25 million “is a huge number” for an off-year budget like this one, he said.
“It’s a year for emergency fixes, highly imperative things,” he said.
House Speaker Frank Chopp was similarly lukewarm, although he said the matter has come up in budget discussions between the House and Senate.
“It’s on my radar screen,” said Chopp, D-Seattle. “I’m not sure if there’s enough caucus support for that.”
Last year, supporters from Spokane and Tacoma joined officials from the Everett AquaSox, Tri-City Dust Devils and Yakima Bears in an attempt to pass Senate Bill 5572. It would have allowed a local car rental tax and stadium ticket tax to pay for repairs at the minor league ballparks. The bill died in the Senate’s budget committee. A separate House bill, HB 2288, which would have allowed a ticket tax, also died in committee.
This year, Barbeau said, the coalition is hoping for enough money to start design and preparation work.
The concrete risers at Avista Stadium have been “exposed for 50 years and they’re nearing the end of their life,” Barbeau said. The concrete’s deteriorating and needs constant patching. It’s not a safety problem yet, he said, but will eventually become one.
The plan also calls for replacing the seats and maintenance on the older buildings that comprise the rest of the complex.
Most of the maintenance is paid for by Spokane County and the Indians ownership, he said. Last year, the two replaced the 30-year-old scoreboard.
“We do most of the capital projects locally, but then we got to this one,” he said of the riser replacement. “It has such a big price tag that the county said, ‘Hey, we need a partner.’ “