No diamond in the rough: Albuquerque’s remade ballpark sparkles

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

The concourse at Isotopes Park is a beefy 40 feet wide, lined by catchy concessionaires such as Atomic Margaritas and offering everything from Asian noodle stands to funnel cake vendors to Hebrew National hot dog hawkers.

For Albuquerque Isotopes fans who want a more upscale experience, a club level offers savory sirloin steak sandwiches, bananas Foster and a popular three-sided bar often three-deep during weekend games. Meanwhile, 30 suites on two levels offer fun ballpark cuisine and terrific sight lines of the field and the Sandia Mountains that serve as the backdrop. The waiting list to rent a suite is 130 companies long.

And behind the right field wall is one of the most spacious ballpark berms in minor league baseball, a sprawling, grassy multitiered kids area topped by a Fun Zone complete with a carousel. Looping the baseball park is the 360-degree concourse, which ties the varied moneymaking amenities together.

Baseball aficionados consider Isotopes Park one of the premier venues in the minors.

“It’s more than the ballgame. It’s about the entertainment,” said Gary Spitzberg, the ballpark scoreboard operator.

And it’s not a new ballpark.

It might look new, but it’s a rebuilt venue — one that might offer lessons for the new owners of the Las Vegas 51s.

Summerlin businessman Steve Mack and The Howard Hughes Corp. are promoting a new stadium to replace 30-year-old Cashman Field, arguing the ballpark on the edge of downtown lacks modern fan amenities and player facilities.

They want a new $65 million ballpark next to Red Rock Resort in Summerlin.

Compare that with the
$25 million cost of rebuilding Isotopes Park in 2003.

VACATED, THEN REVIVED

The Albuquerque Dukes, one of the most famous minor league teams of the West, played at the old Albuquerque Sports Stadium for about three decades. Like Cashman, the Dukes ballpark was considered antiquated. But that’s where the comparisons end.

The Dukes were sold and moved to Portland, Ore., after the 2000 season. There was no baseball in Albuquerque in 2001 and 2002.

“It was a wake-up call for all of us,” recalled Lawrence Rael, who was Albuquerque city manager at the time of the sale.

Albuquerque residents voted to rebuild the old stadium, rather than sink $30 million into a new downtown park.

Tampa businessman Ken Young, who also owns the Triple A Norfolk (Va.) Tides, bought the Calgary (Alberta) Cannons in 2001 and moved them into the renamed Isotopes Park for the 2003 season.

Location was, and remains, important.

Isotopes Park is part of the University of New Mexico sports complex area, which includes the UNM football stadium and basketball arena, “the Pit.” The three facilities share parking, which is ample for Isotopes fans, at $5 per car.

“That’s where fans are used to going,” Young said of the sports complex. “It’s easy to get in and out of, and five blocks from the interstate.”

The new Isoptopes Park, which holds 12,700, and the new team were both hits in 2003. In a poll, fans overwhelmingly picked Isotopes for the team name — a homage to the cartoon team of the same name playing in Springfield, hometown of the Simpsons.

During that inaugural season, Isotopes logo gear outsold those of any minor league club and even that of the major league Montreal Expos, Isotopes general manager John Traub recalled.

remade and refreshed

For $25 million, Albuquerque fans received a virtually all-new ballpark. The city-owned stadium’s project manager at the time, Ed Adams, estimated that 20 percent of the old venue was retained and 80 percent was built new.

Adams said the lower bowl from third to first base was retained, but everything else was new.

“Everything you saw from the street was gone. (The construction) was extensive,” Adams said.

Young added, “It’s a renovation in name only.”

Adams said the rebuilt stadium has several features he’s especially proud of:

■  The 360-degree concourse, which lets fans continuously loop the field.

■  The berm area, which replaced a “drive-in” area where fans could watch games from their cars. The retaining walls built into the multitiered berm allows parents to sit and watch the game, while their kids play on the grass.

■  The upper grandstand between the third base and left- field foul pole, which gives the park “a major league feel.”

■  Suites were built in two levels from third base to first base, rather than ringing the field. Traub, the team general manager, said the $28,000-a-year suites are sold out until 2023.

Young said the continuous concourse, that allows fans to continue watching the game as they do laps, drink beer, chat with buddies and eat burgers, was vital.

“People like to walk and take everything in,” Young said.

Community support and interest in the reconstruction was high. Traub recalls that three Albuquerque TV stations broadcast live the installation of the pedestrian bridge near the left field corner that allows the concourse to be continuous.

The ballpark’s amenities hit every demographic group — kids love the berm; teens and 20-somethings troll the concourse; and wealthier fans and executives from local companies enjoy the suites and club level,

“This place had to be rebuilt and it’s still beautiful,” said longtime fan Robert Casias, 49, of Albuquerque, watching a recent Isotopes game from the right field berm. “The food is good and it’s definitely a big turnaround from the old place.”

Adams said the club level bar is the place to be in Albuquerque during Friday and Saturday night games.

Bartender April Varela said, “People hang out here like a normal bar. They’re not even watching the game. The suite-holders also come down here to socialize. It’s three-deep sometimes.”

The Isotopes pay the city of Albuquerque $1.5 million to
$2 million a year depending on revenue generated from sale of items such as food, beverage and merchandise. The average payment is $1.8 million, which includes $750,000 for rent.

Forbes magazine ranked the Isotopes as tied for fourth among minor league baseball’s most valuable franchises, pegging the club’s value at $24 million.

The Las Vegas 51s’ new owners paid $20 million for their team. They have proposed that Las Vegas, Clark County and the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority form a partnership to float $65 million in bonds for the new stadium in Summerlin. The authority runs the Cashman complex, which includes the ballpark, a theater and convention space.

While the city of Albuquerque owns Isotopes Park, 51s owner Mack said he doesn’t yet know who would own a Summerlin park. He said that if there’s enough public support for the stadium he would consider rebranding the team — just as Young did with the Isotopes.

Longtime 51s executive Don Logan said rebuilding Cashman Field was considered, but rejected in favor of moving to Summerlin.

“We looked at that and it would be more expensive than a new stadium. Mainly because this has the convention center, theater and meeting rooms attached,” Logan said. “They (the Isotopes) were able to use the existing foundation, which we couldn’t do, according to the experts.”

Mack said he plans to check out Isotopes Park, but he maintains Cashman’s downtown site is not ideal. The old stadium is in a low-income neighborhood, while Summerlin is a master-planned community in the suburbs.

Young, the Isotopes president, said he could understand the rationale for the Summerlin site.

“As a fan, (the Cashman site) is not a bad place, but in today’s market you need to a good demographic like Summerlin,” he said. “You need to have decent suites and hospitality, especially in Las Vegas.”

Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273.