Hutchinson Huskies Baseball Organization got the green light from Hutchinson City Council Aug. 22 to begin planning for a new grandstand and other improvements at Veterans Memorial Field.
The next phase includes schematic design with cost estimates that could be used to bid the project and will cost the city $10,000-$15,000.
The current grandstand dates back to 1985 and has not been upgraded during its 38 years.
“It’s a safety issue that I’m really concerned about,” Kyle Messner, a Hutchinson Huskies board member and player, said. “There’s no hand railing. We have a lot of elderly people that come and watch our games. It just takes one person to fall down and you got a lawsuit.”
Earlier this year the city hired Widseth, an architecture and engineering firm, to complete a preliminary design and cost estimate for the new grandstand. During the Aug. 22 City Council meeting, Widseth architect Dana Hlebichuk estimated the project would cost $625,000.
“This is a preliminary estimate,” Hlebichuk said. “We tried to take all contingencies into effect with cost overruns, increased cost of steel, concrete, things like that, as well as price escalations over the next year. This is a very conservative estimate.”
City Council members Pat May and Chad Czmowski raised concerns about funding for the project.
While the proposed stadium project is exciting, it could strain available funds, potentially affecting other projects, Czmowski said.
Besides a new grandstand, the plan includes a new concrete walk. Until a more in-depth analysis is done, however, Widseth will not know the extent of concrete and resurfacing required, Hlebichuk said.
“My first plan was just the grandstand itself,” Messner said. “But the blacktop is getting bad and it slopes toward the field. So when it rains all the water goes on the field.”
The proposed, fully covered grandstand would seat 381 people and includes six handicap areas for wheelchairs, 147 stadium seats and bench seating for 228. The current grandstand holds 250 people with only the middle section covered and provides no handicap seating areas.
“Does it (grandstand) serve its purpose now? It does,” Messner said. “But a lot of people, when they sit here, they can’t sit straight. They have to sit sideways because of the distance between the seats. Also, on hot days like last weekend, it was 95 degrees out, and, if you play here, there’s hardly any shade.”
Fundraising for the project has been a grass-roots effort, according to Messner. He has dedicated the last three years to crowdsourcing the grandstand by handing out fliers, printing donation information on scorecards, and updating the Huskies website.
“I’m going door-to-door, business-to-business,” he said.
So far, the Huskies have raised $250,000 through donations and pledges from local businesses and individuals.
“The Huskies have indicated that they have donors in line, but those donors have not made a commitment yet,” Czmowski said. “We need to know how much those donors are going to commit before we know what the city’s portion would be, because, it could swing wildly. It could be $50,000 or $350,000.”
According to Messner, Minnesota Baseball Association state tournaments bring a lot of revenue to host cities, averaging 20,000 and 22,000 people between the tournament sites.
In 2016 the Huskies hosted the state tournament, which generated $460,000. In 2025 the Huskies will host the tournament again, and Messner projects the event will generate $575,000 over the three weekends.
“Since I started this project and got prices back in 2020, materials have gone up 30%,” Messner said. “That’s why if we wait a couple more years it could go up more and be more expensive. That’s why I’d like to jump on it now and start in 2024.”
According to Hutchinson City Administrator Matt Jaunich, this phase in planning is just to get a hard estimate of the cost. City Council will have two more opportunities to halt the project, one before approving an advertisement for bids and the second after bids are received.
“I believe we can get this grandstand built by ’25 and I’m going to continue to raise funds and try to make it happen,” Messner said.
