Franklin County Commissioners Paula Brooks, Mary Jo Kilroy and Dewey Stokes announced that Franklin County Stadium Inc. signed naming rights, promotions and sponsorship agreements worth $24 million with three hometown corporate sponsors to help pay for the construction of Huntington Park. Additionally, Mayor Michael B. Coleman also announced that the City of Columbus would be a project partner, investing $9.3 million for utilities, roads and other infrastructure improvements surrounding the baseball site at Neil Avenue and Nationwide Boulevard.

Earlier this year, Commissioners gave Stadium, Inc., the non-profit arm of the Parks and Recreation Board which manages the stadium, the authority to raise corporate and private capital to pay for the stadium. Today’s announcement is the result of extensive negotiations for the sponsorship agreements culminating in the $24M in contributed capital.

The major corporate sponsorships announced today include:

$12M from Huntington Bank – Stadium naming rights
$6M from The Columbus Dispatch – Scoreboard naming rights
$6M from Nationwide Insurance & Nationwide Realty-Concourse naming rights

Following approval by Columbus City Council for the $9.3 million infrastructure investment, work on these infrastructure improvements will begin immediately and will be completed simultaneously with stadium construction.  

Stadium construction will be financed by Franklin County, which will sell economic development bonds. These bonds will be repaid in part from the capital contributed by the project’s major corporate sponsors. Future stadium revenues and the sale proceeds from Cooper Stadium will also be used to offset the cost to construct the county’s new baseball stadium, Huntington Park. Lastly, a grant-in aid from the state of Ohio will offset part of the capital costs.

Construction Manager Selected for Huntington Park

Tuesday, Franklin County Commissioners will approve a resolution selecting Turner Construction Company to provide construction management services for the new downtown home of the Columbus Clippers, Huntington Park. Turner Construction Company, headquartered in New York, has offices located throughout Ohio, including Franklin County.

For over 40 years, Turner has been ranked as one of the leading builders in Columbus with projects ranging from the Greater Columbus Convention Center to the Rhodes State Office Tower to the successful completion of the two largest sports project in Columbus.

Turner's local and national talent, responsible for Nationwide Arena and The Ohio State University Stadium renovation, more recently completed the Fifth Third Field named, "best Minor League ballpark" in America by Newsweek is home to Toledo's Mud Hens.

Bringing experience of over $1 billion in sports construction currently underway, Turner adds an invaluable perspective of the latest trends and the most current cost information that will facilitate a new downtown ballpark completed on-time and on-budget.

Commissioners Reach Another Significant Milestone On Stadium Project

After reviewing proposals by three semi-finalist, Franklin County Commissioners approved Resolution # 533-06, to begin negotiating a contract with ThreeSixty Arechitecture, Inc. to provide design professional services for the future home of the Columbus Clippers.

ThreeSixty's conceptual approach to the design of a 10,000-seat baseball stadium for Franklin County demonstrates an understanding of the importance for great spectator and team experiences, revenue generation, patron accessibility, and long term sustainability noted Commissioners.

Construction of Huntington Park is expected to begin later this year and the park is scheduled to open during the 2008 season at the northwest corner of Nationwide Blvd. and Neil Ave.

Commissioners Take Another Step Ahead On Huntington Park

Franklin County Commissioners are beginning contract negotiations with Nationwide Realty Investors (NRI) to serve as their owners’ representative for building a new baseball stadium for the Columbus Clippers.

An owners’ representative closely supervises a major construction project to ensure that it is delivered on time and on budget to the client’s specifications.

Commissioners said they want written assurances that the stadium be family-friendly and affordable; that final responsibilities for any cost overruns be clear; and that a “priority of duty” clause, which states that any prospective conflicts of interest be resolved in favor of the county, be included.

In addition to being “the hometown team,” Commissioners noted that NRI has extensive experience developing Columbus’ Arena District, having worked on more than 20 projects there worth over $616 million. Among those finished projects are Nationwide Arena and the Arena Grand Theatre.

Nationwide Arena was recently named the "Ultimate Arena" by ESPN The Magazine, earning #1 ranking in the category of "Stadium Experience" against the field of all 121 major league sports franchises among NHL, NFL, NBA and MLB.

NRI also said it will wave all fees for owners’ representative services as a contribution to the project.

Members of the NRI owners’ rep team include:

Brian J. Ellis, President and Chief Operating Officer
James K. Rost, Vice President of Development and Construction
Donald Montgomery, Director of Construction
Michelle Chippas, Director of Marketing and Promotions

Commissioners have reached several significant milestones on the stadium project:

• Secured all six parcels of property for the park, which is on the corner of Nationwide and Neil and completed engineering studies on each parcel.
• Gave Stadium, Inc., the non-profit arm of the Parks and Recreation Board which manages the stadium, the authority to raise corporate and private funds to pay for the stadium.
• Huntington Bancshares, Inc. announced it would purchase naming rights for $12 million, the second-largest naming rights in minor league baseball.
• Created a finance port authority that has the ability to provide bonding assistance for this type of project if determined the best financing option.
•  In a competitive request for proposals (RFQ)-driven process, reviewed seven proposals and interviewed three finalists (NRI, IFG, CT Consultants) for owners’ representative.

Opening day for the Columbus Clippers is April 6 at 7:05 p.m. against the Red Barons of Scranton Wilkes-Barre. www.clippersbaseball.com