Catching Up On The Hillsboro Hops New Baseball Stadium
It has been a while since I reported on the Hillsboro Hops. The facts are that this entire matter has stunk up our City Hall and now the Capitol. As time has gone on, something has become very clear. The Hillsboro Hops are just trying to exist and to stay in Hillsboro. The many hours I have spent on this topic over the past two years, including appealing the City of Hillsboro’s approval of the plan to build a new stadium and tear out our kid’s fields, has given me great insight and understanding. After meeting with the team’s owners and General Manager K.L. Wombacher, I withdrew the appeal and watched from the sidelines. That does not mean I like what is happening.
This entire process has been sad to watch. The Hillsboro Parks Commission, perhaps the best and most equitable decision body in Hillsboro, was run over by the Mayor and the City Council. Their wishes were not followed, their power usurped, and the relationships many of them have with City employees are now strained, to say the least. Our Mayor admonished them at a public hearing to align for the new stadium. Recently deceased and supremely popular Parks Director Dave Miletich came into my offices on Main Street in late October to thank me for trying to get the Council to reconsider- he and the Parks and Recreation Commission were all in to remodel the Ron Tonkin Field and save Fields 4, 5, and 6 which will be destroyed to make room for the new Stadium. Dave died, sadly, about ten days after he came in to see me, and he will be greatly missed.
There should have been light, sound, and major traffic studies to build something of this size. They are always required on a project of this size. But the City of Hillsboro, acting as the applicant and the deciding body, pushed for the new stadium with waivers on all these matters. That is old news now. Pushed on by Mayor Callaway, who is the Hop’s #1 supporter and a season ticket holder, the new Stadium was approved. As expected, the Hops have banged the drum for their team’s business venture. And why not- they are putting in $82 Million Dollars, are receiving $18 Million from the City of Hillsboro, $8 Million from Washington County, and now find themselves down to the last $15 Million to get their field and new stadium done. It will be the finest ballpark any High “A” Baseball team has and one of the nicest in the Minor Leagues.
Ok – So Where Are We At Now? HB 5201 Will Deliver The Ball Park
Bottom line? The Hillsboro Hops need $15 Million dollars to finalize this deal. The State is the last stop on the fundraising train, and House Bill 5201 appears to be the vehicle to get this deal done. That is a spending package sponsored by JOINT COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS. They had a hearing, and a decision is nearing, but there is a way to go. The short session in Salem ends on March 10th. So, look for a full-court press and a lot of action on this one. Track all the actions and amendments that will be coming next week.
A Tip From Inside The Capitol
As the Herald has grown and built an audience (Over 150,000 site visits in January) we have developed more contacts outside of Hillsboro, including some insiders in the State Capitol. Let’s say a mole or two at the Staff level are working around this issue and maybe called someone. They tell me that the deal is done. Senator Janeen Sollman is using every trick in the book and wheeling and dealing with getting this done. Others are making moves, too. The money is coming in, almost a guarantee.
NEWS LEAKED-
Another insider has speculated that the Daily Journal Of Commerce was selected to leak the news and keep the inertia going by announcing that the grading and building permits for the new Stadium have been issued. Fields 4,5 and 6 could meet their fate within a month or two as machines chew through them and the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex goes into a 2-year construction phase- which promises to be a mess!
“Mortenson (contractor) expects to break ground on construction between April and June, depending on funding and permitting. Construction is estimated to require 16-17 months, so it would likely wrap up in 2025.” Source – https://djcoregon.com/news/2024/02/14/construction-of-hillsboro-ballpark-could-start-soon/
Below are links to stories, opinion pieces, and testimony from Hillsboro Mayor Steve Callaway, Hillsboro Councilor Beach Pace, and Senator Janeen Sollman – all-season ticket holders!
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024R1/Downloads/PublicTestimonyDocument/113047
https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2024/02/readers-respond-hops-a-grand-slam-investment.html
What if the State does not step up?
If the State of Oregon can not see its way to chipping in $15 million, mark my words, the City of Hillsboro will. Too much is invested in this now. Hillsboro has already spent Millions planning this new stadium, and that money is not coming back. Our City will not take that lightly. Somehow, in some way, this new stadium is getting funded.
Maybe a toll road on Cornelius Pass, Brookwood, and Evergreen? Busiest roads in the City, what with all the Intel traffic next door – ;)
Last Input – Questions posed to the City –
The Herald reached out two weeks back to follow up on when the City will have the Guaranteed Maximum Price from design-builder Mortenson, when the grading permit might be issued, and to whom the $20-$30 Million dollar field replacement costs will fall! Here is that exchange:
1) When will the costs of the project be released now that the 65% design GMP has been announced?
The final GMP for the project is expected next week. The cost estimate for the ballpark project remains approximately $120 million.
2) When will the council approve or take action on that matter?
We are still working on the schedule. The Council will be presented with the final GMP and project design and then take action to authorize construction through a contract amendment with Mortenson and the lease approval with the Hops.
3) The article indicated that grading permits were eminent. Is that the case?
The project team is in the process of preparing to submit for and obtain permits. The process is fluid, currently we do not have a firm timeline for this work to be complete. No actual grading will occur till all the agreements (with Hops and Mortenson) are approved.
4) Lastly, is there an agreed-upon plan for who is paying for Loss of Use costs to replace the fields and how that money will be generated?
Additional Council action will be required in the future to finalize both the lease agreement with Hops and the final loss of use mitigation plan. Since we are still in negotiations with the Hops on this we cannot provide more information at this time.
I support the Hops and am glad they were able to work out a deal…but we need to continue to advocate for our youth. With the new Hops stadium going over Fields 4, 5 & 6 on prime land at the center of the complex, and the youth fields being pushed to the far corners of the complex, we need to ensure we are getting a 1-for-1 (or in this case, 3-for-3) exchange. Yes, the city gets back full use of Ron Tonkin Field and Field 3, but RTF is best used for baseball and soccer, and I’ve never personally experienced a loss of use of Field 3 (only once in 6 years of my daughter playing at GFRC have I seen Field 3 shut down). So, lets get three replacement fields (2 to the West and 1 to the East) which will serve softball and youth baseball, and maintain RTF for youth/high school baseball and soccer. Our kids and our community (and the legacy of Gordon Faber) deserve no less.
Replacing those 3 fields & impact on soccer should’ve been part of the package deal – a plan in place for an acceptable
location (not Brown Jr High) for those fields, cost included in the package & approved by City Parks.
With all the environmental issues, I never understood why the original stadium (& now this one) weren’t built near light rail. Hwy 26 is already a parking lot with just rushhour.
Oh, don’t worry, Sue… the Hops have never contributed to traffic here in any meaningful way.
Jason, “Now that there is funny”!….but,…….
Who in the hell, Matt Rabe, would be providing the funding for fields 4,5 &6, Eh? And oh by the way, unless I’m mistaken RTF hasn’t been paid off yet…$16 Million.
And oh by the way, this “deal” confirms the lack of any business acumen at City Hall, WashCo or the Hops. Who in the hell would invest $89 million (the Hops) for a facility they won’t own? Why would City Hall throw another $18 million at the Hops who when they go broke and disolve would leave the city with a white elephant? Washington County has that retread former mayo of ours so I understand their blunder.
Well anyway let’s all suck it up to this travesty soon to be named Steve Callaway field, with Janeen Sollman concessions, all located on Beach Pace sandunes.
This op-ed by Metro commissioner Juan Carlos Gonzalez that names a bunch of facilities within Portland that actually draw people and then uses them to argue for… state funding for the Hops is logic origami. My favorite part is when he says it will result in “squandered additional revenue” from the Latino Cultural Festival. You mean the festival that’s taken place each year at Ron Tonkin Field, a building that would continue to exist regardless of whether the Hops stay or go?
It’s as if a five year old composed this argument: https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2024/01/opinion-the-hillsboro-hops-are-well-worth-oregons-investment.html
Touche – wow I think this needs to be pointed out!
It’s also lovely of Dr. Pamplin and Company to just keep donating ink to every politico who’s taken a seat at a Hops home game: https://www.hillsboronewstimes.com/opinion/opinion-legislators-should-step-up-for-hillsboro-and-the-hops/article_0f30bc08-1731-54a6-a014-9024974e87c6.html
The Oregonian running an op-ed as a letter to the editor is really something else. Callaway didn’t respond to any story there: He just jingled his cup of change in Salem’s direction and Bottomly said “print it.”
The News-Times if being fed Pablum almost daily by the City and printing what they are told to print. No actual journalism happening there anymore- but hey, almost no one is doing the real work. Asking questions, finding stories, reporting on real issues? No. None of that because that takes real work.
Well, when the ship’s taking on water, you’ll do whatever it takes to keep afloat: https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/12/06/new-documents-show-robert-pamplin-jrs-risky-pension-machinations-have-gotten-worse/
Being that the Hops are the D-backs affiliate, is there fan support for the team? Last year’s WS contender?: I mean, there’s no need to support the only PNW team (loser Mariners) just because of geography. Highly doubtful an MLB team is coming to Portland/Oregon any time soon…iif at all. Sportswise, you’ve got the Blazers (ugh). No NHL team, no NFL team. I’m not even going to include MLS, because if the area had any of the aforementioned leagues, soccer attendance would drastically drop.
“If the area had any of the aforementioned leagues, soccer attendance would drastically drop.”
The area has had an NBA team in the Eastern Conference Finals. The “loser Mariners” were one game out of the postseason last year and beat the Blue Jays in the Wild Card the year before… not to mention hosted All-Star Weekend last year that packed the city.
Portland has no NFL team because there’s no support for one going back to the Delta Dome. Portland has no MLB team because it kicked a AAA team out of the city for soccer, which has had a franchise here for nearly 50 years.
That the Timbers and Thorns regularly attract more fans and win more titles than any other team in this state sticks in the craw of local sports radio. But considering local sports radio draws lower ratings than the NPR, classical and jazz stations here, that should’ve been your first clue that the city that makes all of the major sports’ gear isn’t necessarily their biggest supporter.
But sure… let’s give $140 million to a low-A affiliate of an Arizona team that can’t average more than 2,500 per game in a current building that seats more than 4,000.
Well, the pork bills didn’t make it out of committee last night:
That’s Senate Bill 5701 and House Bill 5201 for those of you following at home: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/listbills/CurrentSessionBills.html
Eight days left until that March 15 deadline. I believe that $8 million from the county is contingent upon full funding, so it’ll be interesting to see if Hillsboro throws a whopping $33 million at this project. A reminder that Greenville S.C. got a ballpark and the Boston Red Sox High A team for just $2 million in public money: https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/greenville-baseball-stadium-shows-parallels-to-knoxvilles-future-stadium/51-8de93ece-d717-4e1f-a1d2-41f6fa56508c
Ideally, that would be $0, but that looks like a steep discount compared to Hillsboro’s rate.