New Downtown Baseball Stadium, AAA Club, and Associated RE Development

[ShockerFever]

Oh and for the love everything holy, make the playing surface natural. I would hope that is one of the contingencies by the Marlins or something. Green carpet would be a “cutting corners” FAIL.

[C0|dB|00ded]

Can you even get "baseball grass" to grow in this god-forsaken climate? Summers in Wichita are death to anything attractive.


T


...:cool:

[SHOCKvalue]

There are warm weather grasses and cool weather grasses. Wichita sort of lives on the E-W dividing line in the US between the two types of grasses, so we have both. The cool weather grasses are much more attractive (in most people's opinion... including HOA's that mostly have them as a requirement) but the warm weather stuff requires much less water and care. The warm weather turfgrasses (bermuda, etc) do just fine in Wichita during even the hottest of times. Problem with them is they are brown, dormant and really ugly around here for like eight months of the year (or the entire 12 months, depending on your perspective). They green up in May/June, and will start to go brown here in a few weeks.

[WstateU]

I just want plenty of these (modern of course)... when I gotta go, I gotta go!

O.co.med.jpg

[C0|dB|00ded]

So much pee-trauma yet to be erased from my memory during the Cow Palace era.

All I could ever think was, "Let 'em splash pee on my hands, but for the love of germophobes everywhere... don't let it hit my tallywhacker"

That really was a 3rd world experience. Soccer would have fit right in.


T


...:cool:

[im4wsu]

I remember just troughs of concrete to pee in. Can't quite remember where it was, though.

[WstateU]

LMFAO!

[WstateU]

Ain't this the truth...

[ShockCrazy]

As suspected it will be be multipurpose. Longwell on The Drive today, goal is 200 events a year and that will include other sports. Believes there will be high school football games there.

Edit: Just said they have pivoted from the soccer idea due to season conflicts. Which I think is probably for the best. But it will support football. I am curious to what the future of hopefully professional soccer is in Wichita though.

[ShockerDropOut]

Not a soccer facility.
Baseball and soccer dont mix well for many reasons.
More interested in HS football and baseball.
Natural grass turf.

Listening to q&a with Mayor Longwell on The Drive.

[SHOCKvalue]

Longwell just said that the multi-use context he is speaking of is referring to the occasional HS football game, not soccer. Said soccer is a no-go due to MiLS requirement of real grass (hooray) and the overlapping nature of baseball and soccer seasons as it relates to scheduling and keeping a first class turf condition.

Wouldn’t be surprised if soccer use was planned but it got shot down by club/AAA. Wichita is not in a position of negotiation exactly.

EDIT: SDO beat me to it.

[ShockerDropOut]

It is an exciting day for the City of Wichita!

[WstateU]

Baseball in Wichita: An investment in ourselves

(extensive excerpts from bizjournal article)

It's proof, they said, of Wichita's willingness to invest in itself as a growing, vibrant community through public and private money.

"We're ready to invest in us to make a difference in our future tomorrow," the mayor says.

What is that better tomorrow? Jeff Fluhr, president of the Greater Wichita Partnership, said today's announcement is another step toward becoming a distinctive city.

"What sets us apart is quality of place and today's announcement does that," he says. "It also shows the aspirations of this city. Talent wants to go somewhere that has a bright future, and today's announcement demonstrates we are a city with great momentum, great aspirations where we want to go ... and we're tenacious. We get things done."

Debbie Gann, a former Spirit AeroSystems Inc. executive and part of the Project Wichita leadership team, agrees, saying the announcement shows that Wichita is working to reach its aspirations.

And while baseball hasn’t been specifically a topic on which Project Wichita has collected community input and data, it nonetheless speaks to the goals Wichita is aggressively pursuing, Gann says: being a city that dreams big and works collaboratively to improve its future.

“It’s an example of how we can invest in ourselves,” she says.

https://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2018/09/06/baseball-in-wichita-an-investment-in-ourselves.html?ana=e_du_prem&s=article_du&ed=2018-09-06&u=rnSD5rbbJoSUsu0S68N%2BcXLtwFi&t=1536267369&j = 83686381

P.S. Reading some of the quotes has me dreaming, wishing and filled with excitement once again. Wouldn’t the rebirth of a local Division I football program improve the quality of life in Wichita (a metro area of over 600,000 people) and further the "aspirations of this city"? 1986 was 1986 and this isn’t your 1986 Wichita leadership. I’m thinking ‘The Bardo’ and ‘The Longwell’ could find a way to get it done. No, I'm not advocating playing football in downtown Wichita. Yes, Wichita still has mountains to climb, but local leadership is finally thinking and dreaming big... and it's best to strike when the irons hot.

P.S. II. I don’t give two squirts of pi$$ about comparisons with K-who and their 'perennial' bottom 10 football program.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Timeline is a question. Babycakes have a lease through 2021 season. Believed to be flexible if another teams assumes the lease, so the group working to bring a AA team to New Orleans would include current Babycakes owner to ensure that everything goes smooth.

[AZ Shocker]

I'm excited for you guys and in particular all the baseball fans in and around Wichita!!! Triple A Ball is really cool! A few of my Shocker buddies used to go to a lot of Wrangler games back in the day. Wasnt Triple A but still fun. Good summer time memories!

I hope the team name chosen is super cool!!! Any talk of that yet?

[Dark Lord]

I vote for Wichita Soul Eaters

[1972Shocker]

I'm excited for you guys and in particular all the baseball fans in and around Wichita!!! Triple A Ball is really cool! A few of my Shocker buddies used to go to a lot of Wrangler games back in the day. Wasnt Triple A but still fun. Good summer time memories!

I hope the team name chosen is super cool!!! Any talk of that yet?

Wichita did have Triple A baseball prior to the Wranglers with the Wichita Aeros in the American Association from 1970-1984. However, the major league affiliation was somewhat musical chairs. Cleveland Indians (1970-71), Chicago Cubs (1972-80), Texas Rangers (1981), Montreal Expos (1982-83) and Cincinnati Reds (1984).

[Shox The Revenant]

Wichita does have a knack for screwing up major building projects as in the Water walk project that never even got off the ground. However IBA was financed by the one time short time increase in taxes. They had a budget and built what they could afford and as far as I know haven't had to come back with hat in hand because of needed additional funding because they didn't keep a chunk in funds back for that purpose. Is it perfect, No but it's better than I thought we would end up with.

What corners were cut during the construction of IBA? I know the roof spire was downsized and made less glamorous. If I'm not mistaken the roof was flattened off and not raised higher, anyone sitting at the very top I bet can say they're annoyed at the metal beams at head level right? What else was cut, I'm sure there is more.

[AZ Shocker]

Wichita did have Triple A baseball prior to the Wranglers with the Wichita Aeros in the American Association from 1970-1984. However, the major league affiliation was somewhat musical chairs. Cleveland Indians (1970-71), Chicago Cubs (1972-80), Texas Rangers (1981), Montreal Expos (1982-83) and Cincinnati Reds (1984).

Yeah totally remember that as well. My Grandpa took me to Aeros games quite a bit as a really small lad. Great memories!

[ABC]

I saw the Cubs play the Aeros as a kid . . .

My vote is the "Horsemen"