Bellevue swings for the fence

Community leaders are hoping that the addition of six world-class softball fields on the south edge of Bellevue will generate tourism revenue and put the city on the map as a premier destination for summer youth sports.

Today, about 150 to 200 Bellevue leaders plan to celebrate the groundbreaking for the $7.5 million Cat Osterman Champions Village. The youth softball complex is being built south of Offutt Air Force Base. Construction got under way last week.

Next year, Bellevue hopes to host 36 teams and 500 families each week at the facility.

Plans call for four weeks of girls softball tournaments in July 2010. Baseball tournaments for boys' teams will take place on those same fields in June, coinciding with the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.

“We will never have a Shadow Lake, a Cabela's, casinos or a Qwest Center,” said Dave Compton, owner of Bellevue's D.C. Electric/Heartland Lighting Inc., which is installing the lighting for the complex. “We would really like Bellevue to be a big entertainment district. This project, it's a start, anyway.”

For three years, the mega youth sports complex has been a work in progress.

In 2006, Utah-based developer Chad Jennings proposed a $6 million boys baseball complex near Cedar Creek, about 30 miles south of Omaha. In 2007, Jennings shifted his focus to Bellevue.

At the time, the city approved his plans to construct World Baseball Village, an $11 million baseball and softball park.

More than a year passed with no construction. Jennings' project lost a key investor.

After reorganizing, Jennings instead focused on girls softball. He recruited Osterman, a former Texas All-American and one of the world's top softball players, to be the face of the project. She will be involved in marketing the facility to teams across the country.

In April, the Bellevue City Council agreed to float $3.85 million in bonds upfront instead of after the project is complete. That cost includes the 87 acres of land where the six softball fields will be built. The city will be responsible for the bond payment only if the project fails. The World Baseball Village will manage the facility.

Jennings now plans to construct a youth baseball complex as part of a second phase of construction. Jennings' investment group owns 270 acres of land at the site near Bellevue.

Besides tournaments drawing teams from all over the country, the fields would be available for local tournaments and clinics during the year.

Jennings modeled his project after the Little League baseball complex in Cooperstown, N.Y., which draws dozens of teams each week from June through August.

“I think this is one of the best drivers to bring tourists and people from the outside into the community,” said Ryan Belford, one of the owners of Bellevue's Microtel Inn & Suites. “It will also get Bellevue's name out. In the summer, it will fill up every hotel. I think the restaurants and hotels will probably be impacted the most.”

Jennings' investment group expects to make annual payments to Bellevue on the construction bonds, but if the private development fails, Bellevue taxpayers would be on the hook for those payments.

Bellevue City Council member David Sanborn was the only member to vote against the project in April. He said the city hasn't received enough information about the management plan and available funding sources for the development.

“If they can't make the bond payments, the city will have to make those payments,” Sanborn said. “I hope it will work out, but this is also an all-new concept. We are putting up the financing, so it's setting a precedent.”

Bellevue Chamber of Commerce President Megan Lucas said she has no doubt that the youth softball project is well worth the city's investment in the construction bonds.

“This project is going to draw 1,500 to 2,000 people a week to Bellevue,” she said. “We're excited about it. We have confidence in the developer and the team he has that is putting this together.”

Phil Davidson, special projects coordinator for Bellevue, said Jennings has traveled to softball tournaments around the Midwest this summer to sign up teams to play next summer in Bellevue. “I know for a fact that they already have a few teams signed up,” Davidson said. “I really think the teams will be there.”

In addition to the ballfields, the Cat Osterman facility will feature a three-story water slide, full-time medical and security staff on site, a video arcade and air-conditioned clubhouses, two volleyball sand pits, picnic pavilions, covered spectator seating and wiffle-ball fields.

“Once people see the fields, people will want to play there,” Davidson said. “From the city's standpoint, we would be very happy to have seven tournaments for year one. I think excitement in the community is there for this project.”

Contact the writer:

444-1056, john.ferak@owh.com

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