Back in December I wrote about the opening of the Big League Dreams sports park in Gilbert.
This from the end of that post:
I can tell you though — the fields are very nice. We’ll see how that turf holds up in the summer heat…
Well, it’s August now. . .
From today’s East Valley Tribune comes, Big League Dreams facing big problem with fields.
Jason Hubbard was in awe when he first took the field at Big League Dreams.
It was February, and his men’s softball team was playing in one of the opening leagues at the Gilbert ball park.
At first, he said, the fields were immaculate and the facility was spectacular.
But things have changed.
The grass is dead. The infields are worn out. And Big League Dreams is in serious danger of losing business.
It would appear that all is not well in Gilbert’s dreamy new ball fields. The developer is blaming the contractor, the Town Council is blaming the developer for lack of maintenance. Finger pointing abounds.
Big League Dreams, or Big League Schemes?
Dubbed “Big League Schemes” by some residents, the original budget for the park was $22M which swelled to $40M with cost overruns.
Now it’s looking like someone is going to need to plunk down at least $100K to fix the grass and infield areas. ($100K sounds awfully low to me…)
The comments in the Tribune article are interesting and vary wildly. Some report similar problems with other complexes operated by Big League Dreams, some say the fields aren’t that bad.
I live about 1.5 miles from the park, so I took a drive over tonight to check it out.
Looked pretty bad to me…
Here is a photo I shot just prior to the opening in December 2007:
And here are some shots of the same field, taken 30 minutes ago (sorry for the lousy quality. Should have taken the tripod. But you get the idea):
Yes, the summer heat is brutal. But there are immaculate lawns all over town. Big League Dreams is claiming the turf wasn’t installed properly and that the wrong materials were used in the infield dirt.
Who was supervising these operations?
Town of Gilbert residents have been grumbling since Day 1 about this project. It nearly cost twice what was estimated. And now this?
And in an election year no less.
Could get interesting. . .
Additional photos (the bulk from December 2007) on Flickr.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
In my real estate practice I encountered many different cases. Sometimes it happens in another way.
That is a major difference. The first photo looks like an absolutely perfect field. Neglect can be very expensive.
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Jay’s Note: Rich, your message is good, and thanks for commenting. But I edited out the link to your site as it violates our comment policy about advertising. I appreciate that you are trying to run a business, but I don’t want to see my blog comments become an advertising venue. Doing so would require me to decide what is, and is not, OK to advertise. Allowign none makes that a much simpler process and let’s me avoid “playing favorites”. Hope you understand.
What a flipping waste!! I can’t believe the issues that came from that – once beautiful – field.
I would have never imagined that the fields would look that terrible in under a year, let alone a decade. What a waste of money the entire ballpark has become; wasn’t there fraud involved or a little suspicion or it at least? It has incredible potential maybe we just need a little better management going on ??… just a thought
Jay, this is the single reason I refuse to have grass in the front yard of any home I live in. It looks GREAT, but in Arizona it takes so much work to keep a decent lawn that for someone who’s out of town or busy, a front lawn should wait until you can afford landscapers to keep it clean and fed.
Funny this came up too, I was just driving by this area the other day and thinking, “Wow, what is that.. looks like a baseball field?”. Now I know!
It’s really sad to see a beautiful field turned into a waste. Why no one is maintaining and supervising it? I hope it could be renovated to bring the beauty of that field once again.
take a look at the crews and companies who constructed it, their track records for professional level ballfields, and what the other fields they have constructed look like.
then take a look at other BLD facilities.
there is your answer.
Greetings,
I run a major softball tournament and was considering moving it to Gilbert in 2009. We anticipate over 75 teams from all over the nation to attend the event which runs over a 4 day span. Since all the teams are from out of the area they will all need hotel rooms, meals, transportation, flights, entertainment etc. 75 teams x 20 players and family members per team would surely generate significant revenue to the Gilbert region. I have hosted the tournament in Cathedral City, Ca.for the past few years and it has been a huge success. It has become so popular we have had to turn teams away due to space limitations. Gilbert is a larger facility so it would allow me to accomodate more teams. My concern is the condition of these fields. I have worked with BLD for several years and I have full confidence in their staff. The fields in California are ALWAYS in outstanding condition. I cannot risk moving my event to Gilbert if the city cannot come to some resolution on this matter. I would appreciate if anyone has any information as to who from the city I should contact to determine if this will be resolved by next year. If not, I cannot take the risk of moving out of California. Thank you in advance for your input.
Jeff Blair
http://www.policesoftball.com
good luck. the maintenance guy at cathedral city is top notch.
don’t count on it fixing here. they are planning on overseeding late and playing on it while it comes in……
all the rest of the whole valley is transitioning right now. they aren’t. what does that tell you?
The $100,000 does sound right to me. Stamford Bridge, the stadium of Chelsea FC (an english football club) had problems with their pitch, different problems mind you of drainage and lack of sunlight, but the effect was the same, it kept having to be relayed.
I seem to remember them saying it cost the best part of £50,000 to relay it which they needed to do about 2-3 times per season. The problem is that it’s a repeating cost.
Looks like a typical government operation … who got paid off?
Bld overun in texas and will be over 21 yrs before the city gets money back BLD is a joke and scam
yes look rather what crew built before and their professional level!
Damn those people… how much did they earned again?
Well, this only proves that corruption is still on the loose no matter how many people says that it had been terminated..tsk..tsk..tsk..