When Championship Sports’ current contract to organize league and tournament play at Mike Jacob Sportspark ends Dec. 31, the heavily used facility will shut down completely for at least one month.
That’s because Championship recently rejected the county’s offer of a month-to-month lease arrangement while up to $1 million of repairs are conducted and a new, sole operator is sought.
Lou Ciurca, the company’s CEO, said such a deal was unworkable, as leagues and tournaments are difficult to organize when there is uncertainty about whether the lease would be renewed each month.
“You can’t operate this park month-to-month. The county knows that,” he said. “It’s our impression that they basically made us an offer to make us look like the bad guy in this situation.”
Chris Cawein, director of county parks and recreation, which oversees the county-owned property, took issue with Ciurca’s characterization, saying the offer was more akin to a six-month lease that would have allowed for termination within a month if contractual obligations were not met.
As it stands, three separate companies have contracts with the county to manage different parts of the facility, a situation County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry has previously described as “not the best model” and recommended a return to a single operator for all services.
Sportspark is the second-largest lighted softball complex in the area, and hundreds of youth and adult teams use the facility every year.
Cawein said that in January the county will first audit the property to determine which repairs to prioritize and carry some of them out. While the county seeks a new operator , Cawein’s department will allow leagues and other groups to organize tournaments and events through special-use permits, something he hopes will be up and running by the spring. The food and beverage manager, Pinnacle Concessions, may also get special-use permits to operate during games and tournaments, according to Cawein.
The repair work comes in response to recent incidents — such as metal roofs blowing onto fields and a pole falling onto an unoccupied volleyball court — that raised safety concerns. Though Championship is responsible for some maintenance work, the county is responsible for major repairs.
Earlier this month, the Board of Supervisors approved spending up to $1 million on that work, funds that will come from Arizona Department of Transportation’s purchase of nearby rights-of-way for the Ina Road interchange project at Interstate 10.
The unsuccessful 2015 county bond package included $3.2 million for Sportspark, and another $12 million for lighting at sports facilities across the county.
Ciurca said he laid off roughly 15 full- and part-time employees this past Sunday. The numerous umpires that worked at Sportspark would likely still be able to find work at games and tournaments organized by leagues and other groups with special-use permits, according to Cawein.
Ciurca said his company would not be putting in a bid to be the sole operator, adding:
“For seven years, (the county) worked against the success of the park. Why subject myself to that?”
Cawein said the $1 million in repairs “will get things going, it will take care of some of the critical things. We’ll be looking for other sources of funding as well.”
“We just want to make sure that everything is done very properly and very safely,” he said. “We love to have people using our park.”
