Minor league baseball to return Hutchins buys N.Y. team

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Almost five years after a drive to get a multi-function stadium built in Bangor was blunted in the city council’s chambers, the prospect of bringing minor league baseball to the River City is once again a distinct reality.

Bangor native and businessman Charles M. “Chip” Hutchins has reached an agreement in principle with Adirondack Lumberjacks owner Charles Jacey to buy the Northern League baseball team and bring it from Glens Falls, N.Y., to Bangor to begin play in May of 2003.

The 30-year-old Hutchins, who has been a huge baseball fan since his days in Farm League playing for Tri-City Pizza, said the sale is essentially final, pending league approval and locating to a suitable baseball facility.

“I don’t have the document in my hand, but we have verbally agreed,” Hutchins said Thursday afternoon. “I’m very excited. This can be – if it’s done right, and I expect it to be – great for this area.”

Hutchins preferred not to reveal the price he is paying for the Lumberjacks (who just happen to have an infielder by the name of Steven King on their roster), but said the Northern League’s franchise fee – whether it’s a new or existing team – is $500,000.

The Northern League is the country’s most successful and well-established independent minor league with two divisions and 18 teams, although it is expanding to 19 or 20 in 2003, its 12th year of operation.

After the paperwork is all signed and approved, the next step is getting the intended home of Bangor’s new team – Husson College’s John Winkin Baseball Complex – ready for league play in 2003.

“What we’re really down to is figuring the economic cost of what needs to be done for the stadium improvements,” said Penobscot County Commissioner and attorney Peter Baldacci, who has served as Hutchins’ attorney through the team sale negotiations.

That involves the installation of lights, which have been approved by the Bangor City Council, bathrooms, concession facilities, and seating. Plans call for 3,000 seats (1,000 “theater” and 2,000 bleacher-style).

To that end, the Bangor City Council is holding a Monday pre-council workshop in which representatives of Husson are expected to make a proposal to city officials regarding the possible sharing of the remaining cost of field renovation.

“We are waiting for an actual proposal from Husson,” said Bangor mayor Michael Crowley. “There are ways for us to help them.”

Donations by Husson College, Maine philanthropist Harold Alfond, and current Husson assistant coach/former University of Maine head baseball coach Dr. John Winkin to the ongoing field renovation total about $1.6 million.

With the total value of the field estimated by Winkin, college, and city officials at around $3.4 million-$4 million after all improvements have been made, another $1.8 million-$2.4 million remains to be covered.

Crowley said he has no idea what Husson’s proposal would involve, but came up with an example for the sake of illustrating a joint effort between the college and the city.

“Say it’s down to $1.8 million in unmet cost, they might ask us to split the rest with them.” Crowley said. “And that’s just a one-time contribution. We wouldn’t have to keep being responsible for regular upkeep and maintenance.”

That’s an important factor and one that distinguishes this potential city involvement from the one five years ago in which Bangor was considering a $2 million bond issue to build a multipurpose stadium for the Bangor Blue Ox.

“Personally, I’m very optimistic,” Crowley said. “All the important pieces are in place: the acquisition of a franchise, one of the best fields in New England, $1.6 million in private support already on the table, commitment to get Bangor’s name out there. What more is there to hope for? That’s what makes this so difficult not to want to get involved with.”

Husson president Bill Beardsley said the field is a catalyst for furthering Husson’s relationship with the city.

“We’d love to play ball with the city and try to make something happen that benefits both parties,” said Beardsley, noting that Montclair State University officials estimate their leasing of the school’s stadium to the Northern League’s New Jersey Jackals brings about 150,000 people a year to the campus.

Bangor commissioned Convention Sports and Leisure International of Minnesota to do an informal study on the movement of a minor league team into a stadium and city similarly sized to the Winkin Complex and Bangor.

Jonathan Daniels, Bangor’s director of business and economic development, said the nonscientific study of the potential economic impact a minor league team would have on Bangor was twofold: stadium impact and total impact.

Daniels said the study found the total impact on the area to be $5 million. Stadium impact (ticket sales, concessions, leases, and anything else regarding the stadium) would be approximately $2 million per year while the outside impact (money paid for restaurants, hotels, goods and services, etc.) would be about $3 million.

“The timing didn’t allow us to do a full analysis, but CSL’s figures are very conservative,” Daniels said. “It tells us the potential is there, given the variables, for a sizable economic impact in the region.

“I’m excited. It establishes us as more than just a pass-through or gateway community and gives visitors and citizens more entertainment options.”

Lee Umphrey, Bangor’s community and intergovernmental affairs coordinator, said, “It’s all part of what we’re trying to do in Bangor to draw more people and raise awareness of the area, along with the Folk Festival, the ongoing arena upgrade talks, the UMaine art and the children’s museum and other things.”

Although the cost of buying an established team is higher initially, it may prove cheaper in the long run as it is a turnkey transaction in which Hutchins is buying the team, the players, the coaches, and the front office. Hutchins has already “rehired” Curt Jacey, son of Charles, to stay on as the team’s general manager.

Hutchins owns Automatic Vending and Games, is sole investor of Engineered Materials of Maine, director of Merrill Bank, and director of United Way. He also serves on several boards and foundations.

“It’s funny. We used to joke about what inning we were in,” said Umphrey, who started working with Hutchins and Baldacci 18 months ago. “I’ll tell you, it feels like the top of the ninth right now.”