Hammons Field sold: Springfield City Council approves $16 million purchase and renovation

Springfield City Council gave final approval Tuesday morning to a $16 million deal to buy and upgrade Hammons Field and its surrounding parking lots.

The lone dissident in the vote was Councilman Craig Hosmer — who supported the purchase of the stadium but not the adjoining parking lot. Hosmer voted present in the final tally since the purchases were decided in a single council vote, while each of the other council members voted in favor of the purchase.

The downtown ballpark has housed the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals since 2005. The city announced during a Feb. 1 news conference a preliminary deal to buy the baseball stadium and surrounding parking lot for $12 million — $6.5 million for the stadium and $5.5 million for the parking. A further $4 million will be expended for stadium improvements.

Funds for the purchase will come from unrestricted money in the city's general fund and money earmarked for “Economic Vitality” from the Level Property Tax Fund. Along with purchase of the ballpark, the city is pursuing a new lease agreement with the Springfield Cardinals that would extend their stay through at least 2038.

More:City of Springfield strikes $16M deal to buy Hammons Field, keep Double-A Cardinals

Rather than waiting for their regularly scheduled meeting next week, council voted on the matter in a special session Tuesday morning. Before the vote, Councilman Matt Simpson called it a "very, very good deal" that will provide long-term benefits to the city through sales tax revenue and economic vitality.

"This is the centerpiece of our urban core and this makes sure that it's going to remain a great asset for the city of Springfield. But I think beyond all the kind of quantitative and financial factors, there's also a big personal impact here and I think to everyone in our community. Cardinals baseball, Bears baseball, Hammons Field — it draws people into our community, and it provides something for people in our community to do."

Simpson added he "dreamed" of his city having such a stadium and professional baseball team in his city, but that dream always seemed "unrealistic" to him.

"Now I have two kids who are growing up with a generation who have not known Springfield without the Cardinals, have not known Springfield without Hammons Field. And I think of going to the SPS nights at the Cardinals games and going there with my son with his classmates from elementary school. In seeing everyone from school, they're using the free tickets provided by the Cardinals, seeing the joy in their faces, seeing the community pride that it brings up for them and for their families. And kind of seeing the dreams of the future that baseball provides us," Simpson said.

"It is a sport. You know baseball is a part of the fabric of our country, a fabric of our community and Hammons Field is baseball in Springfield and this makes sure that that future generations will get to grow up having the same experiences."

Hosmer: City overpaying for parking lot

Making a motion to take separate votes on the purchase of the stadium and parking lot, Councilman Craig Hosmer said the stadium purchase "makes perfect sense" but purchase of the parking lot is "not a good expenditure of city resources."

According to Hosmer, an appraisal valued the parking lots at $3 million and the city's $5.5 million purchase is "almost twice" what the city should pay.

More:City Council hears from supporters, opponents of $16 million plan to buy Hammons Field

"it's not a good use of resources to be purchasing a parking lot for $5.5 million dollars when we've got ... other issues that those resources could be used for," Hosmer said.

The motion to divide the issue failed because no other council member joined Hosmer in his request. Hosmer then asked and implied council members had spoken before the meeting to agree to deny a second to Hosmer's proposal.

Mayor Ken McClure denied any such discussions took place and said Hosmer's insinuation was an "inappropriate question."

Council went on to approve the $16 million purchase in a single vote with all but Hosmer in favor.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield council approves $16 million purchase of Hammons Field