Vision for Albi
Some people see it as a city landmark, like Manito Park. Others see it as a deteriorating, money-losing albatross.
Jim Albi and Paul Hyndman see Joe Albi Stadium as an underutilized, underfunded gem that has been abandoned by the city.
The stadium is costing the city about $100,000 a year, prompting a move to sell it. That effort was halted on Aug. 29, when the Spokane City Council voted 6-1 to reject a resolution declaring Albi surplus property and allowing its sale.
To prevent a future sell-off, Albi and Hyndman created the Friends of Joe Albi Stadium in September.
Jim Albi is a cousin of the stadium’s late namesake, Joe Albi. Along with other business people, Joe Albi raised funds, bought the land, built the stadium and gave it to the citizens of Spokane in 1950. Bing Crosby did a radio show as a fund-raiser for the project.
Jim Albi grew up on stories about Joe Albi, Crosby and the Athletic Round Table, a men’s fraternal organization that promoted sports activities.
A sale of Albi, with a $2.3 million appraisal, would net the city approximately $389,000 after a bond was paid off and the stadium razed.
Victor Frazier, president of the Northwest Neighborhood Council, said that doesn’t make sense when you compare Albi’s 89.6 acres to the 60 acres at Playfair Race Track that the city bought for $6 million or the 30-acre parcel on the North Side that Wal-Mart bought for $3.2 million several years ago.
“I was strongly opposed to that sale for that price. It’s an asset that the city would be wise to keep. I think the Athletic Round Table has given this city a real gem, and to just sell it off – I don’t care how bad the budget crisis is – would be a mistake,” said Frazier.
“We have to get out of the paradigm of ‘gee, it’s just a football/soccer stadium.’ These are the same things that they faced back in the ‘50s. That’s why they had concerts, rodeos and car racing there. It’s the same issue; history repeats itself. We just need to better utilize the place,” said Albi.
Albi visualizes a regional park on Albi grounds, eventually with a covered stadium with removable turf that would attract regional and national sports tournaments.
He foresees drive-in movies, climbing walls, paint-ball games, a fitness center, aquatics center, dog shows, horse shows. Corporations could pay for naming rights.
“We don’t want to turn it into Coney Island, but we need to include everybody,” said Albi.
All these things could put the stadium’s finances in the black, said Albi.
Hyndman said that FOJAS, with the assistance and involvement of others, is putting together a business plan that would make Albi Stadium financially viable. This plan will be presented to the Albi Task Force at its next meeting on Jan. 20.
Jim Albi also is on the Albi Task Force. The committee was conceived by former Mayor Jim West, and Council president Joe Shogan is chairman.
“The goal of this committee as expressed by Joe Shogan was to come up with any ideas that we could, to brainstorm and have a wish list to help Albi Stadium financially,” said Albi.
The task force has been meeting since the end of September and is made up of representatives from area school districts, the Parks Department, the West Central and Northwest neighborhood councils, Brett Sports, the Friends of Joe Albi and local business leaders.
Shogan said that the group commissioned Coffman Engineering to evaluate the condition of the stadium. They have the results of the study and hope to reach final conclusions by their meeting next week. These findings will then be presented to Mayor Dennis Hession.
“Depending on what the mayor proposes, the council could be involved. The only way it would go to the citizens is if there was to be a vote to do some kind of levy for it, but it’s already in the process of paying off two prior levies, so I don’t see that. But it’s possible. Anything is possible,” said Shogan.
There are two bonds on the stadium, issued in 1996 and 2001. The 1996 bond will be paid off this year, leaving about $1.5 million from the second bond or about $170,000 per year until 2013, according to the FOJAS figures obtained from the city.
“Up until 2003, the bond payments and expenses were paid by the city’s lodging tax and admission tax. But when the Public Facility District was formed, the lodging taxes and most of the admission taxes went with it and the city was left with the bills for Albi Stadium,” said Hyndman.
The Convention Center expansion plan required that the PFD be used as the conduit for state funds. In 2003, the PFD formally took over control of the Opera House, Convention Center and Ag Trade Center. Albi wasn’t included in the transfer.
Kevin Twohig, executive director of the PFD said that including Albi was “not really discussed at the time we did the Opera House to any extent. The significant difference being that the voters provided a substantial amount of funding for improvements to the Convention Center and there was no similar arrangement for Albi Stadium.”
Twohig said that the PFD is not a city and it doesn’t have the ability to generate huge amounts of tax dollars. The projects that the PFD has taken to the voters have been very specific, and the PFD can’t just take its money and do something else with it.
Some of the funding is lodging tax. The hotel-motel lodging tax generates money that is specifically for capital purposes related to the Arena and the Convention Center, but not Albi.
“I don’t believe the (PFD) board ever took any formal action on Albi because they were never asked to. There was a lot of informal discussion, and I believe at that time that the board members were basically saying, ‘You can’t give us a facility that needs major capital improvements without the money to do it,’” said Twohig.
“I don’t know their reasoning. I just know they didn’t take it and that’s hurt Albi because it doesn’t participate in any of the funds that the PFD gets,” said Shogan.
The Friends of Joe Albi Stadium believes that citizens can work together to revitalize Albi. “We’re not a big-time operation, just concerned citizens, and we’re just rolling along as best we can,” said Albi.