NW Arkansas Naturals season starts and Crystal Bridges exhibition opens

The opening game for the NW Arkansas Naturals was last week on April 8 at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, and then there were games on subsequent nights as well. The first couple of games didn't go too well--in the one on Friday they lost to the San Antonio Missions by a score of 13-1 as almost 5000 fans watched, speechless.

But on Saturday they came back and beat the Missions by a score of 4-3.

Whether the Naturals win or lose is not the important thing. Having a baseball team like the Naturals here in NW Arkansas is wonderful for the region and a sign of positive growth. As our collection of small towns expands and more people move to the area, the idea of a variety of activities for residents to enjoy becomes more important. In the absence of a professional team for football, basketball and other sports, the U of A Razorbacks garner an almost-fanatical following. But the Naturals, now only 3 years old, are also making their place here.

Similarly in other disciplines. Soon the new Crystal Bridges art museum will be opening in Bentonville, but there have already been exhibitions at what is called Crystal Bridges at the Massey. The most recent was a juried exhibit of local photographers which opened April 2. With more than 100 entrants from 12-year-old amateurs to seasoned professionals, Crystal Bridges showed that it too will be a centerpiece of NW Arkansas culture. The photographers were asked to capture the changing landscape in Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties.

Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas have garnered recognition on many "best places" to live, retire, raise a family, start a business--you name it--and with good reason. Our quality of life is enhanced by places like Crystal Bridges and the Walton Arts Center, not to mention the U of A as artistic and intellectual venues, or even places like Georges on Dickson St. as popular music venues. And the NW Arkansas Naturals complement the Razorbacks as a sports destination for many Northwest Arkansas residents.

NW Arkansas IS a great place to live!

Removing the Kinks at NW Arkansas’ Professional Baseball Stadium

Springdale’s brand new baseball stadium opened April 10 to a full house of cheering fans, including Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, Springdale Mayor Jerry Van Hoose, team owners, celebrities, and a flyover by four A-10 Thunderbolts from the Arkansas Air National Guard.

The stadium is beautiful by all accounts but now that the festivities are over, a few kinks need to be worked out – most notably traffic and parking.

Opening night traffic was congested in all directions but 56th Street was probably the worst of all. Of course, it was a sell-out crowd but one would have to hope that big crowds continue to come to the park.

There has been talk of widening 56th Street as well as possibly creating a new exit to the park directly off I-540, both of which would take a lot of money and time.

But, let’s face it; people will not be happy about spending an hour or more in traffic just to get to the stadium.

If development as envisioned by the City of Springdale is to occur in that area, the roads must be improved. It’s that simple!

Moving on to parking (no pun intended), much has to be fixed. The number of parking spaces (1,700) is insufficient for a big crowd. I have never been able to understand how the number of parking spaces is determined when building a new venue. Surely there’s a formula somewhere that needs to be reworked! For example, the new stadium can hold 7,800 fans but has parking for only 1,700 vehicles. That’s roughly 4 1/2 people per car, not counting players and workers. Maybe a lesson from Disney on people moving is in order.

If you think that’s worthy of note, you should have been at the Komen Race for the Cure April 19, which started at the ballpark. At least 17,000 people participated. Tents were set up in the parking lot so even fewer parking spaces were available. Shuttle buses ran from other parking lots but even at that, parking was a total mess.

The City of Springdale has rights to the stadium for concerts throughout the summer with seating for up to 12,000 people. I’m already wondering where those people will park.

I don’t mean to take anything away from the stadium or professional baseball in NW Arkansas, but the reality is that major enhancements will be needed for the success of the entire venture. By the way, the Naturals lost their opening game and have had more losses than wins since then.

For more information:

http://www.nwarktimes.com/adg/News/222509
http://www.nwarktimes.com/adg/Sports/222440
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/04/10/sports/041108bbmnatnotebk.txt

Professional Baseball in NW Arkansas

Play Ball! That’s a phrase many baseball fans have been waiting to hear. At 6:00 p.m. Thursday, April 10, the familiar phrase will be heard at the brand new Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Arkansas.

Things have progressed right on schedule since voters narrowly approved spending $50 million in 2006 to buy land and build a ballpark on empty land near I-540.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals will call the new stadium home. They are the Double A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and will be playing in the Texas League.

Tickets to home games are almost impossible to buy because sales have been so brisk. Indeed, everyone in NW Arkansas wants the Naturals to be successful. The other cities of NW Arkansas are happy to have the ballpark near their cities. It is another amenity that enhances quality of life for the entire area – just as Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center does and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will do when in opens in 2010 in Bentonville.

There have been various comments made that the ballpark will improve Springdale’s image, currently known as a ‘blue-collar’ town. Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with being a blue-collar town. It’s the working men and women who make this country the success it is.

The city fathers aren’t so much concerned with image as they are in making a financial success of the entire project. Commercial development must occur to provide increased sales tax revenue. Retail stores, hotels and restaurants, office space, and other entertainment venues are all seen as serious possibilities to replace pastures where cattle now graze.

To prepare for that, the city has been rezoning agricultural land near the park to commercial.

The city has spent more than $3 million to build water and sewer lines in the area so as be ready for future development.

They have also been working on building new roads and widening some existing roads. The ballpark is just a short distance from I-540 but as of today, the only access is by 56th Street, which is a two-lane road.

In the not too distant future, the new John Tyson Parkway will open, hopefully with an exit directly off I-540. The parkway will be the major east-west corridor across the southern part of Springdale.

With opening day just a day or so away, I would have to say the City of Springdale deserves appause for bringing this project in on time. It’s a very attractive asset to the community.

For more information:

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/04/05/news/040608azstadiumfut.txt

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/04/04/opinion/040508editorial.txt

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/04/05/news/040608azstadiumfinance.txt

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/04/01/sports/040208bbmnaturalnts.txt

http://www.nwarktimes.com/adg/News/222083

http://www.nwarktimes.com/adg/News/221889