Wichita will spend as much as $81 million on building a new ballpark for the Triple-A baseball franchise that is planning to move to Wichita.
And the city will pay $2.2 million to the Wichita Wingnuts to break the independent baseball team’s lease at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, which will be torn down to make way for the new stadium. City officials hope to have the 84-year-old stadium demolished by the end of the year.
The new team, now known as the New Orleans Baby Cakes, will be responsible for maintaining the stadium and will keep all the revenue from tickets, parking, concessions and media. The new stadium itself will cost $75 million and must be competed by March 15, 2020. As part of the agreement, City Hall is also committing to build a $6 million pedestrian bridge across the Arkansas River.
The team will provide $5 million to $7.5 million for fixtures and equipment.
The team will pay the city a flat $350,000 a year to start as rent, with the amount to be adjusted for inflation every five years over the 20-year lease.
The ballpark will have 6,500 to 7,000 fixed seats and 15 to 18 luxury suites, plus a seating berm and party space for 3,000 to 3,500 people.
The team has agreed to make the stadium available for a week a year for National Baseball Congress World Series tournament games. The annual amateur tournament draws teams from across the country to Wichita.
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