It’s been a good season so far for Dickey-Stephens Baseball Park and the Arkansas Travelers in North Little Rock. Concessions and attendance are up for the season and the outlook for the remainder of the season looks promising. Travs fans and NLR residents though have been concerned over the past 6 weeks as to whether or not they’ll be able to retain their minor league baseball club with new requirements and facility standards putting financial pressure on both the ball club and the city leaders of North Little Rock.
According to a report from Arkansas Business released on Monday CEO and Vice-President Rusty Meeks states that he’s 100% certain that the Arkansas Travelers will be staying in North Little Rock.
Around six weeks ago, Meeks was asking the City of North Little Rock to provide $7 million to shore up a sinkhole-prone field and to spend an extra $5.6 million on stadium and clubhouse upgrades. Those upgrades would include like new field lights, training rooms and facilities for female umpires and athletes. The argument was that bigger upgrades and facility additions should be the city of North Little Rock’s obligation as owner.
On Monday, June 13, the North Little Rock City Council approved $700,000 for a new playing surface and committed $800,000 to hire a construction engineering firm to plan wells to abate sinkholes that have appeared ever since the Travelers moved into the park along the Arkansas River in 2007.
This move by the city of North Little Rock has obviously shored up some goodwill among staffers at the Arkansas Travelers who would have likely faced a major challenge in relocating to another park somewhere within the state. This news comes on the heels of news that the NLR Mayor would be amenable to providing at least $6 million toward the purpose of updating the park.
There is still somewhat of a small window for the city and for the Arkansas Travelers to address these updates as per the requirements all updates must be completed by the beginning of the 2023 spring season which means that there is much more work to be done by both sides before it’s all said and done.
The current lease agreement between the city of North Little Rock and the Arkansas Travelers for Dickey-Stephens park ends in 2026. Arkansas Money and Politics will continue to update this story as more details develop.
Image Courtesy of Arkansas Travelers
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