Bull City Rising

TBJ: Minor League Baseball still weighing corporate relo to Bull City

Friday's edition of the Triangle Business Journal features an interesting story by Lee Weisbecker on Durham's continued courtship of Minor League Baseball, an engagement that goes well beyond MiLB's role in operating and managing the renovated Durham Athletic Park.

Besides the ongoing planning for the Minor League Baseball fan experience museum -- a project which downtown sources say has strong feasibility, assuming the City can deliver financing for the construction itself, funded by the prepared meals tax -- the TBJ reports that a behind-the-scenes recruitment effort is underway to get the professional sports league to relocate its headquarters from Tampa Bay to Durham:

For the past 30 years, the headquarters of Minor League Baseball, MiLB, has been ensconced in a waterfront office in St. Petersburg, Fla. But the 40-person operation, which oversees 160 teams in the United States and 80 in Canada and Latin America, has only three years left on its lease in a building earmarked for demolition when work begins on a new stadium for Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays.

"Our future in this building is limited," says MiLB Senior Vice President John Cook, who adds that, to date, "no serious discussions" about the future have taken place between his organization and movers and shakers in Durham.

At the same time, he doesn't call a third strike on the prospect. "There would be some potential," he says. "This is a fluid situation, and it's an interesting concept to discuss."

Durham has, of course, a strong cottage baseball industry already -- from the publication Baseball America, which relocated to Durham a quarter century ago, to the USA Baseball national amateur organization also based in the Bull CIty. (And of course, if you go back far enough, Durham was the HQ for MiLB, back in the early-mid twentieth century.)

One question that would be on everyone's mind: just where would MiLB set up its offices? The TBJ speculates that the fan experience museum, tentatively proposed for the northeast corner side of the ballpark, might be able to house MiLB offices.

Another logical likely party interested in leasing them space could be Hank Scherich of Measurement Inc. The educational testing company owner and sometimes downtown developer and investor has been gobbling up properties on Morris St., including the old Accent Hardwood Flooring office (which moved to Foster St.) and the single-family house next door to it.

Coupled with the parking lot and former Durham Farmers Market site, they now own the entire western side of a city block along Morris -- a perfect site for a much-rumored major development project. (Note the old DAP ballpark just north of the Scherich-controlled properties, which are outlined in red.)

The fulfillment of Minor League Baseball's interest in the DAP region would certainly cement the district's economic growth and direction -- something we're sure that the nascent investors in the area, a group that ranges from the often-acquiring Greenfire to local business owners like Scherich to Trinity Lofts developer and NYC planning director Alex Washburn, would love to see.

DBAP gets emergency lighting "for next time"

From the That-Didn't-Take-Long Department:

The city soon will install emergency lights in the concourse area of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park after a power outage Friday forced thousands had to exit the stadium in near total darkness.

Friday evening's concert by Kevin Costner-fronted rock band Modern West was cut short by a violent thunderstorm that shut down most of the lights in the 10,000-capacity stadium. Emergency lights in the restrooms, underground tunnels and the seating bowl went on, but there are no such lights in the concourse, said Durham Bulls Vice President George Habel.

Read more over at the N&O's Bulls Eye blog. Silver lining to being sick this weekend: we had tickets to the concert and fireworks but missed the Great Ballpark Blackout as a result. (And I'm sure the friends we gave our tickets to instead are real thankful now.)

Matt Dees of the N&O reports that the Bulls are bringing in emergency generators until the City, which owns the DBAP, can get the lighting installed. (I'm a bit surprised this didn't come up in the building inspection a decade ago. Darn those developers! Oh, wait.)

WRAL has a terrific -- and slightly hilarious -- slideshow of the Costner concert posted, by the way. If you ever saw the website for the J.J. Abrams horror flick Cloverfield, you might remember the technique used of showing photo after time-stamped photo, evolving from a scene of a loft party to the horror of a monster attack on NYC?

Well, this slideshow: same gestalt, less montsters. See at right for an example.

If you're bummed out that natural fireworks crowded out the manmade ones on Friday, you'll get your chance tonight after the Bulls-Tides game at the DBAP. If you have a ticket from Friday's festivities, turn it in for a game ticket; if not, the gates will open after the 7th inning to all comers wanting to see the pyrotechnics.

BCR to Gearino: Why "Bull Durham" will always be a uniquely Durham story

Kudos to the Independent Weekly for an interesting and thoughtful series this week on the 20th anniversary of the movie "Bull Durham," including a first-person account of one man's greatest Bulls game ever, a remembrance with legendary Bull and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, and a look at locations and extras from the 1988 film.

Still, the most intriguing piece is one from ex-N&O writer G.D. Gearino, a "longtime Raleigh resident" who decides to take on the mythos of the movie in a conventional wisdom-tweaking column titled "Bullshitty."

While Gearino takes on "Bull Durham" over the accuracy (or lack thereof) of its depiction of the minor leagues and the quality of the film's acting, he reserves his parting shot for what he sees as the anonymity of Durham's canvas in the movie:

None of this would matter, though, if the film had succeeded in portraying Durham in all its interesting, flawed, diverse, chaotic glory. The fact that a movie this bad is hailed as great is only one stumper to be pondered here. The other is why so much civic pride has been piled on a film that shortchanges the real place it sought to portray.

Aside from the scenes at the old Durham Athletic Park and a few shots of the downtown skyline, nothing in the movie gives you any sense of Durham as a specific, unique place. For all that it imparts about that history-rich city, it might as well have been filmed on a studio backlot....

This is why I've been puzzled for two decades by Durham's embrace of a movie that treats it as just another Nowheresville. The city portrayed in Bull Durham is just as colorless and uninteresting as Durham residents frequently declare Raleigh to be. Yet they adored the film when it came out, and 20 years later have launched themselves into a new round of celebration.

Welcome to the white-bread world, y'all. It's amusing to see you embrace your inner blandness.

Ah, Mr. Gearino. Where to begin?

There's no denying that the film's choice of Durham is, on the face of it, accidental -- save for producer Thom Mount's love of his hometown. There is no scent of tobacco described over the town, as Gearino decries; there is no Nuke-Crash scene set on the campus of Duke; there's no sense of Annie going down to meet an old friend down at RTP.

Still, Durham is the perfect spiritual location for the film, for the Bull City shares with every Class A minor leaguer the same pedigree: that of the relentless underdog.

DAP construction on verge of getting underway

Nearly lost amidst the hubbub of last Monday night's City Council budget deliberations: the City's decision to move forward with the renovation of the historic Durham Athletic Park, under an expanded project budget that adds some nice touches back into the project -- including an intriguing water cistern feature that may just make the old DAP one of the greenest fields around.

According to City staff's memo on the project, the City has wrapped up design-phase work with Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse and has recommended Skanska as the construction manager at risk (CMAR) for the effort, while continuing the city's pre-construction relationship with consultants and former subcontractors D'Agostino Izzo Quirk Architects and S&ME.

The project's budget has continued to grow, from an initial $4 million in the 2005 bond issue, to $5 million as of last year. As of now, the "hard costs" for construction stand at $5.18 million -- not including over $300,000 in requested add-back items and enhancements -- while the total "soft costs" for planning, architecture and environmental engineering stand at almost $850,000.

Where's the extra funding coming from? From $965,000 in sales of certificates of participation, a debt issuance method that doesn't require the typical public approval process (and a method used earlier on the DBAP, to boot.)

Of fireworks and firearms

I'm no grand prognosticator of public safety, though I find the socioeconomic bases of crime in neighborhoods a fascinating topic here from time to time.

Still, I can confidently predict there will be reports of staccato small arms fire in neighborhoods around downtown Durham sometime between, oh, say, 9:30 and 10:30pm on July 1 through the 4th, and again on July 11 and 25. Probably August 1, 8, 9 and 23, too.

There's no crystal ball involved in such predictions. These are just the next nights when the Durham Bulls are scheduled to have fireworks after games or the occasional Kevin Costner rock show.

It really seems to happen without fail: listservs in places like Trinity Park, Duke Park and the like seem to light up faster than a pyrotechnic starburst -- though perhaps not as fast as the 911 lines -- every time there's a light show over the Bull City.

Last night was no exception, with the Duke Park list debating the perennial question: fireworks shells or shotgun shells? Crane to see the sky or duck for cover? Roman Candle or roamin' Crip?

It's one of those bemusing moments that denotes the occasional tension that flares up every so often for those living in urban Durham -- those of us hardly hardy souls who endure so many questions from our suburban Wake friends, like "Isn't Durham dangerous?" and "I'm going to cover a foreign military conflict, can I borrow your flak jacket? You must have one."

Restaurant tax moves forward -- is it the irony of the starving artist?

Ray Gronberg went two-for-two today in H-S metro pieces, adding a story on the forward progress of the prepared meals tax along with his East End Connector update.

As we learned back in April, state Rep. Paul Luebke has abandoned his longstanding opposition to the prepared meals surcharge, which would add a 1% additional sales tax onto food bought at restaurants. Durham's delegation has now introduced the bill in both houses of the legislature.

The bill won't begin to be pushed through the legislature, though, until the city and county reach agreement on how they'd split the revenue. Additionally, the imposition of the surcharge would be subject to a referendum.

And just what would the funds be spend on? Today's H-S tells us a bit of the story--

[The bill] specifies that the county can use 3 percent of the revenue to cover the cost of administering the tax.

Of what's left, the county is supposed to devote 80 percent to pay for "civic and cultural amenities," 10 percent for marketing, 5 percent for workforce training and 5 percent to community cleanup.

Reckhow and other supporters of the meals tax tie it to their plans to fund services likely to attract or serve visitors and tourists. The workforce-development money, for example, would particularly target "folks in the hospitality industry," while the reserve for cleanup is there on the theory that fast-food restaurants generate litter.

And just what's intended by "civic and cultural amenities?" We can get an idea from an April 9 H-S story, also by Gronberg:

Prospective beneficiaries include the Durham Civic Center, the county stadium, the Museum of Life & Science, a Durham history museum and a Minor League Baseball museum.

Kevin Costner to return to Durham for City's Fourth of July celebration

The press release came across the wire today and told the story: Kevin Costner's coming back to the Bull City, in this 20th-anniversary year for "Bull Durham."

He won't be in D-Bulls blue, orange and white this time, though. And he won't be back at the old Durham Athletic Park, which presumably will have the dirt moving and the grass torn up by then as part of its renovation project.

Instead, he'll be coming to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park to perform a concert with his band, Modern West, with whom the actor performed (in an earlier incarnation of the group) before his movie career took off. Costner and his backing band will appear at the DBAP on Friday, July 4, for the concert, which will be followed by the City of Durham's annual fireworks extravaganza.

Read more over at the Durham Bulls' web site, or sign up for access to web pre-sales for the event on June 4 (tickets otherwise go on sale at 9 am Thursday June 5 via the Durham Bulls box office.)

DAP breaks ground today, begins half-year's construction

At 9 a.m. this morning, look for a crowd to gather at the block bounded by Foster, Corporation, Morris and Geer Streets, as the venerable old Durham Athletic Park project breaks ground. Local residents as well as the media are invited to see Mayor Bell, city manager Patrick Baker, and Minor League Baseball CEO Pat O'Conner turn shovels with NCCU chancellor Charlie Nelms and Capitol Broadcasting head Jim Goodmon.

Retired from use by the Durham Bulls since 1994, the park has continued in a new life as the home for events like the Bull Durham Blues Festival, World Beer Festival, and as a ballpark for Durham School of the Arts. But the ballpark has been showing its years of late, with peeling paint and outdated facilities limiting the attractiveness and usefulness of one of Durham's true historic places.

In 2005, Durham voters approved a $4 million bond issue to renovate the DAP; the City brought in Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse to evaluate the park and to understand its future uses. At the same time, Durham worked to strike up a partnership with Minor League Baseball, which was interested in using the DAP as a training ground for umpires, groundskeepers, park managers and other staff.

The result? The DAP's renovation (since pegged at $5 million -- the remaining $1 million coming from interest earned on unspent bond funds) would allow the park to maintain its existing uses, as well as to become the home for NCCU's college baseball team,with MiLB operating the park under a contract with the City.

Lakewood keeps Y, gets middle school in the bargain

We've been remiss in not acknowledging the good news that broke out of the Lakewood area late on Monday. As you've probably heard (and can read about in the H-S, N&O, or at Barry's place), the YMCA of the Triangle has struck an agreement with Durham County and the Durham Public Schools that preserves the future of the longtime neighborhood institution.

The County approved the deal unanimously on Monday night; it moves to the school board in late May for that body's nod.

In a nutshell, the county will spend $250,000 for the 60,000 sq. ft. facility -- a fraction of what the H-S reports is a $2.6-$4.5 million appraised value -- then spend $8 million to repair the old and battered facility. One-third of the space will be leased back to the Y for $1 per year; the Y will pay to make some final upfit renovations to their part facility, but the 15-year lease deal still is worth almost $2 million to the non-profit.

The remainder of the old Y will be turned over by the county to DPS, which will operate a Montessori middle school in the space in less than four years' time.

It's rare that you can call a deal a win-win (or, here, a win-win-win) and mean it as more than a cliche. But this is that really unusual case where the term applies.

Downtown adds Five Points Cafe -- and new fitness space to boot?

Two news items from a reader whose eye is firmly on downtown. First, and as was previously reported at The Archer Pelican (with pics), Cooking Eating Durham, and the Crone Report, the Five Points Cafe next door to Toast has finally opened. The Steve Matherly-helmed eatery plans to open for breakfast in the early morning and lunch in the afternoons. Dessert is the name of the game in the evenings, featuring Ms. Lott "The Cake Lady," according to TAP's coverage. Long term plans for Five Points Cafe include offering foodstuffs and staple items along with possibly wine.

It's clear that lunch should be an easy win for FPC given the overflow business that Toast, P&O, and other lunchtime places get around downtown. A tougher question will be how Five Points Cafe stacks up in offering more staple items and foodstuffs downtown given the parking challenges in the space. I think there's a demand from folks living and especially working downtown for a space where affordable, non-gourmet items can be picked up for use at home, but the natural home for such a business may still turn out to be West Village.

Still, it's great to see Five Points Cafe turn on the lights and open up the doors. If you check them out for breakfast, lunch or dessert, share your thoughts here.

In other news, it sounds like Bob Chapman may have signed up a tenant for the space he's been rehabbing at the northeast corner of Foster and Geer in the DAP district. Word is that an exercise or fitness business is on the verge of moving in, possibly including a pilates or yoga operation. No word yet on when the space, which adjoins the Central Park School for Children, will be open or when a tenant will be formally announced. The pilates or yoga direction would make sense, given the DAP's adjacency to the downtown and American Tobacco YMCAs.