Old Orchard Beach Council discusses Ballpark

OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Some town councilors are questioning whether to temporary close The Ballpark in the upcoming fiscal year.

The Ballpark is a town property that in the 1980s was home to the minor league baseball team Maine Guides and in the 1990s a concert venue. It sat idle for a decade until a grassroots effort to refurbish in 2008, after residents voted in a town referendum that the town should not sell the property.

From 2011 to 2018, The Ballpark hosted collegiate and professional baseball teams. It has also become a venue for local baseball leagues as well as festivals and concerts featuring local and regional performers.

The Ballpark is overseen by an operations manager as well as the Ballpark Commission in conjunction with the Town Council.

This year, one of The Ballpark’s biggest events, the annual Blues Fest, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though there are many baseball games scheduled at The Ballpark this year, there will be a loss of revenue due to canceled events like the Blues Fest.

In recent years, The Ballpark has received an annual from the town to supplement money made by events, sponsorships and concessions sales. The last two years it received $41,000 annually and for Fiscal Year 2021, The Ballpark Commission and Operations Manager were asking for $45,000. Some years, it has also received money from the town’s capital improvement project budget to assist in repairs and maintenance.

After discussion at a Town May 12 Council workshop regarding The Ballpark budget, town officials and representatives from The Ballpark met to see if the amount The Ballpark was asking for could be reduced.

Town Manager Larry Mead reported back to the Council at a May 19 workshop.

With the loss of the Blues Fest and other events, revenue for the upcoming fiscal year at The Ballpark is expected to be about $53,000, not counting any contribution from the town, said Mead. In an effort to work with the town, Fontaine agreed to reduce his salary from about $36,000 to about $29,000.

Mead said it is anticipated that The Ballpark would need $90,000 to operate in Fiscal Year 2021, and the town would need to contribute about $37,000 for The Ballpark to balance its budget.

Town Finance Director Diana Asanza presented other scenarios. She said should The Ballpark close for the summer and fall, the town would still need to contribute nearly $27,000 to balance the facility’s budget, as there would still be expenses such as weatherizing buildings, operations and field maintenance salaries and unemployment benefits for Fontaine. If The Ballpark were to close completely in 2021, the town would have to contribute nearly $17,000, said Asanza.

Council Chairman Joe Thornton said he wanted to continue to keep The Ballpark open year-round.

“I have no desire to close The Ballpark at all,” he said.

Councilor Shawn O’Neill said he knew the amount of effort that was put into The Ballpark, and he apologized for the council discussing closing it.

“I’m not sure why we had to stir this all up and cause a lot of ill feelings,” he said.

Councilor Michael Tousignant said to see a reduction of general management at The Ballpark. He said with less management, the field could still be mowed regularly and leagues who have played at The Ballpark for many years continue to do so.

“It’s just extremely difficult to me, to keep funneling money into that ballpark, when they can’t figure out a way to generate enough revenue,” he said. Tousignant also asked Asanza to do some research on how much capital improvement money The Ballpark has received over the years.

Councilor Jay Kelley said he thought The Ballpark should close for the year to give time to review the budget and see if there were ways it could make more revenue.

Councilor Ken Blow, who has donated in-kind services at The Ballpark including trash removal and portable toilets, said he was concerned with spending money at The Ballpark for events at a time when the state was not allowing gatherings of more than 50 people and when the town was considering reducing money for road projects and rethinking potential raises.

Fontaine said there 200 baseball games booked, including several tournaments, and there were leagues that depended on The Ballpark.

“We’d be hurting a lot of people and a lot of kids by closing,” he said.

Thornton said he was concerned that if The Ballpark closed in fiscal year 2021, leagues would find other places to play and would not come back to play in the future.

Alex MacPhail, president of Friends of The Ballpark, a non-profit dedicated to promoting The Ballpark, said Friday that if The Ballpark was left unattended, the facility, as well as the Community Garden located on the property, would be subject to vandalism.

“The Friends of the Ballpark (members) fully support Guy Fontaine and the current management of the ballpark to help navigate us through these most trying of times. This is not the time to take a step back and lose all that we have worked so hard for. We hope for continued operations as outlined by the will of the voters,” said MacPhail.