Cougars stadium expansion nearing one-third completion
A Kane County Cougars stadium expansion that will deliver new amenities and a long-term home for the team is about a third of the way done, team officials say.
The goal of the Elfstrom Stadium expansion is to keep the team competitive with other minor league attractions and vault the Cougars into baseball fans' hearts as the alternative attraction to Chicago Cubs and White Sox games for fans sick of the rowdy crowds, sluggish traffic and high prices.
"Our fan base will drive well over an hour to see a game and not have to pay a ton to park and catch a game, a fireworks show and run the bases," Cougars spokesman Shawn Touney said. "That's kind of what we're all about."
Team officials believe the $10.5 million renovation will make the Cougars the biggest sporting event draw in the area, paying back Kane County's investment in the stadium by boosting the local economy with larger crowds on game days.
The Cougars drew 10,000 or more fans to the park 10 times last season and averaged more than 7,000 people at every game. That's a grand total of nearly 473,000 fans who double as shoppers and diners before, during and after games. All told, the team has brought more than 8 million people to the Kane County area since beginning play in 1991.
Team officials hope the cash registers will ring even louder come April with the addition of more than 600 new seats in the form of 15 skyboxes. The renovation also ushers in better concessions, a higher-class game experience and opens the stadium as a meeting and wedding reception destination for the first time.
"Come April it will be a whole new experience," Touney said.
Construction crews are about 90 percent finished with foundation work and already have begun hanging the steel beams that will support the luxury suites. The suites will all have air conditioning, satellite TV and private indoor and outdoor balcony seats, arguably the highlight of the $10.5 million expansion project.
The prime skybox is called the "super suite" by Cougars staff. It's located right behind home plate and is large enough to host a homecoming dance or business seminar, an addition that will make the stadium a year-round moneymaker.
Stealing a page from Wrigley Field fans, the stadium also will have two new rooftop party areas along either baseline at the ends of the upper deck.
The upper deck itself will be an amenity fans can enjoy even if they aren't inside any of the skyboxes. The skyboxes will act as an open-air roof that will cover the concourse for the first time and bring shade and cooler temperatures to a previously sun-drenched game experience. It also will add an important weather shield that will keep fans in the park, and near the concessions, whenever it rains.
Even with a larger stadium there's no doubt a Kane County Cougars game will get the vast majority of fans closer to the field and players than most people can afford to get at either a Cubs or White Sox game, Touney said. That offers a chance to see the big leaguers before they become big leaguers.
A total of 101 Cougar players have gone on to play in the majors. The names should be easily recognizable for any baseball fan: Ryan Dempster, Josh Beckett, Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Gonzalez, Edgar Renteria and Huston Street are just a few. A pedigree like that may be why the Cougars ranked 18th in attendance out of 178 minor league baseball teams in average attendance last season.
It's also part of why the Kane County Forest Preserve District decided to sign a 20-year commitment with the Cougars to keep the team around for the foreseeable future.
"The biggest benefit to the taxpayers is that the Cougars have created a non-real estate tax revenue stream for us," said John Hoscheit, president of the Kane County Forest Preserve District. "We've used that money to acquire open space and improve the open space that we have. They provide jobs to the area. People come here to frequent the restaurants and watch the team and Geneva obviously benefits from that.
"Aside from all that, it's just a great family environment to have in the county. There is a significant fan base, and their attendance shows they run a good operation. And now we'll have them here on a long-term commitment."
<object width="300" height="247"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G_hndtHYGAI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G_hndtHYGAI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="300" height="247"></embed></object>