Visalia scales down visions for upgraded Oaks park By Tim Sheehan / The Fresno Bee 02/17/08 22:22:19

VISALIA -- Cost overruns and construction delays will put the peanuts and Cracker Jack on hold for baseball fans seeking an opening-day seat on the right-field line at Recreation Park.

When they approved a two-phase renovation plan last fall, officials for the city of Visalia -- which owns the aging downtown stadium -- hoped to be well under way on a new two-story structure to provide more seating and house a hospitality lounge, team offices and team store for the Visalia Oaks, the minor-league team that plays there.

But rather than having things complete before the Oaks' April 17 home opener, City Council members will reconsider their options after bids for the work arrived this month in the neighborhood of $8 million, much more than expected.

"I want to keep baseball in Visalia, but there's no doubt we're going to have a scaled-down project," Vice Mayor Bob Link said Friday. "There are things we need to do to meet the requirements of Major League Baseball.

"But we're going to have to see what happens with the rest of it," he added.

The brick-faced right-field improvements were planned as the first phase of a two-part effort estimated at about $12 million over the 2007-08 and 2008-09 off-seasons to bring the 61-year-old ballpark up to standards set by Major League Baseball for Single-A clubs and increase seating to about 3,100 from the current capacity of about 1,800.

The second phase was to include demolishing the existing grandstand berm and replace it with a steel and concrete structure topped with new suites and a press box.

But the only two bids for the Phase 1 work are destined to send the overall price tag much higher unless the City Council changes its plans.

Seals/Biehle General Contractors of Visalia -- the company in charge of building the city's new Acequia Avenue downtown parking garage last year -- submitted a bid of $7.74 million. Woodlake contractor Oral E. Micham Inc. put in a bid of $8 million for the job.

The city has already spent $144,808 for demolition of the old bleachers and site preparation along the right-field line near Giddings Street. There, a light standard rests on the dirt infield, removed temporarily, and graded earth awaits the eventual construction.

The continually rising costs are giving council members a case of sticker shock, Link said. In 2006, the entire tab was expected to be about $5 million, but that more than doubled after engineers discovered the aging berm supporting the grandstand wasn't structurally sound enough to support the planned suites and press box.

"When it was $5 million, that was something we could understand," said Link, who heads a subcommittee that will recommend a revised plan of action for the entire City Council to consider on Feb. 25. "We could understand $12 million. But $18 million, that's just too much."

Phyllis Coring, the city's project manager for the stadium, said the subcommittee will suggest that the City Council proceed with the full Phase 1 plan and award the job to Seals/Biehle, the low bidder.

The planned second phase -- replacing the grandstand berm and new suites and press box -- will be scrapped, at least in the short term. Instead, work to enlarge the dugouts to baseball standards will be built into the existing berm.

"The important thing for us to do is the major-league required facility standards, so we've got to do the dugouts and bullpens," Oaks President Tom Seidler said Friday. "The challenge is moving forward with what's most critical to keeping our major-league affiliation with the Arizona Diamondbacks ... and continue to do things that will improve the stadium for our fans to keep increasing attendance."

The Oaks attendance last season reached 84,000, Seidler said, topping the 2006 total by about 35%.

"A lot of that is due to the promise of renovations to come," he said. "People started getting excited about baseball and our long-term outlook to remain in Visalia."

And Seidler said he isn't giving up hope on the future grandstand replacement and luxury suites.

"I think we will need to go out and secure some private sponsorships when we move on to the grandstand," he said. "That might include some long-term suite contracts to raise money to match the city's funds ... but that's on the back burner now."

Until a contract is awarded, city officials won't estimate when the new right-field building will be completed; the only sure thing, Coring said, is that construction will be going on during the baseball season: "This will be built during the playing season; fans will be able to watch the progress of the construction, and that should be exciting."