Crystal Lake Daily – by Ed Harris
Friday, March 19, 2010

We’re growing again!  From what was once a small minor league park located in the Crystal Lake countryside, we have increased both in market and fan interest.  “We are continuing with our phased construction plan and will be adding an additional 5,000 seats to the stadium prior to the start of this season,” said Sandgnats’ Owner/GM Dean Giesey.  “Additionally, Disney has partnered with us to construct a 5-star hotel just beyond the right field wall with a connecting pedestrian mall. We are very excited.”

The development of the Crystal Lake property all started back in 2005. “We started canvassing northern Illinois for property suitable for a ball park.”  Team officials met and contracted with ParksAreUs to perform a demographic study to determine the best location.

“We actually purchased about 140 acres and drew up blue prints to build the new stadium in Addison, Illinois,” Giesey said. However, the voters of Addison narrowly turned down the resolution that would have allowed the Gnats to build their park in that suburb.  “We didn’t win the referendum and so we were forced to go back to our original study,” Giesey said.  “We inquired about the Arlington Park Racetrack property (our #2 ranked location), which we were told could be ours if the price was right – it wasn’t.”

Out of the blue, Giesey received a call from Aaron Shepley, the mayor of Crystal Lake.  “He had heard that we were looking for a suitable location for our ball park and recommended we check out his town.  There was an abandoned minor league stadium located on Pingree Road with additional empty property adjoining this location both south and west of the site.  It would be a nice location for us to grow.  He assured us that we would be welcomed by the citizens of Crystal Lake and McHenry County and would not have any of the referendum issues we experienced in Addison.”

Giesey and partner Bill Hewitson took a drive to the country and liked what they saw.  They immediately order a sturdy to determine the viability of the location.  “We knew that we were going to be starting with a small market share,” said Giesey.  “We didn’t want to compound the problem with a poor location for our park.”

It was determined that the location was suitable and the architects were told to put a design together.  “We envisioned a state of the art facility with a connected hotel and baseball mall,” Giesey said.  “One of the issues would be to decide if the old park could be converted or if we would need to flatten the old facility and begin from scratch.”

The park was originally built in 1991, relatively young by stadium standards.  Working with ParksAreUs, a 4-phased plan to develop the property was created.  “Fortunately, we were able to retain parts of the original structure saving us some construction costs.”

Phase I (2007 season)

§ Completion of park renovation in preparation for the inaugural PEBA season

§ Portions of the old park were demolished and rebuilt to improve sight lines and upgrade the facility

§ Roads around the park were widened

§ Parking was added and the older lots repaved

§ Handicap ramps were added for better access

§ The scoreboard and video boards were repaired

§ The audio and speaker system through out the park were upgraded

§ The field and drainage system also got an upgrade

Phase II (2008 season – stadium expansion)

§ New seats were added down the foul lines and in center.  A stadium club 5-star restaurant with stadium club seating was added in right.   Park capacity increased from 35,000 to 40,000, a 5,000 seat increase from the old stadium.

§ Distances to the outfield wall were changed, most noticeably down the foul lines

§ The upper deck was enclosed and a roof was added

§ New center field video board and LED “ribbon” boards were added

§ The exterior of the park was renovated.  Brickwork was added to the park’s concourses.  The stadium grounds were beautified all around the park, including the walkway from the train station.

§ The land adjoining the stadium connecting it to the new Pingree Road train terminal was developed (which was part of the contract with the city of Crystal Lake)

§ Construction of the Baseball Village theme park south of the new stadium was begun and completed

Phase III (2010 season – stadium expansion)

§ Improvements have been made to the main and club level concourses

§ The bullpens have been moved and replaced with additional bleachers

§ Three rows of seats have been added along the field between the dugouts and the foul poles

§ Upgrades have been made to the outfield/upper deck concourse

§ A Fan Deck in center field had been added

§ In total, another 5,000 seats have been added, increasing capacity from 40,000 to 45,000

§ Disney completed their 5-star hotel just beyond the right field wall and adjoining the park with a pedestrian walkway.  Games are visible from the hotel room balconies.

Phase IV (2011 season)

§ Parking lot expansion

§ Overpass to the new lot.  Transportation to the lot will be provided.

§ Refurbishing of the old lot and addition of barbeque pits for tailgating

§ Lower Terrace balcony will be added to provide an additional party area and outdoor seating

Lessons to be Learned

There are lessons to be learned from all this.  “Small revenue clubs don’t have to be perennial losers.  Financial inequities are a disadvantage but they can be overcome by investment in the draft and through player acquisition.  Also, the proper development of your facility and good marketing can expand your media and generate additional revenue.  The first season we used some creative ticket packages to spike attendance.  Then the marketing group worked hard to get our logo out there as an easily recognizable symbol of the team,” Giesey explained.  “We said, ‘Come see the bugs play,’ or, ‘Caught the baseball bug yet?’ and it stuck.  It resonated with our fans and they embraced us as their own.  Many more people now come out to the ball park for fun.”

Hewitson explained further, “Players are another important part of the equation.  We want to have the best players, sure, but having the right players helps to build interest with the fans.  Winning of course doesn’t hurt and we were fortunate that our young pitching staff was able to give us a division championship the first year.  But, we never stopped working.  We were always searching to find new and creative ways to entertain the fans and keep them coming back to the ball park for more.”

Having a little luck didn’t hurt either.  There is an adage that sometimes it better to be lucky then good – right?  But we also remember that it has been said that luck favors the prepared mind.  Well, in Crystal Lake fans have come to expect that their “bugs” are lucky and good.

General Information

• First Opened: April, 2007 – Inaugural PEBA Season
• Capacity: 35,000 (2007); 40,000 (2008), 45,000 (2010)
• Architect: ParksAreUs
  
• Foul poles: 347 ft.
• Power Alleys: 375 ft.
• CF: 400 ft.
• Area of foul territory: Average
• Fences: 8 ft.
• Elevation: 595 ft.
• Surface: Grass

Attendance History

• 2007 – 2,905,671
• 2008 – 3,406,872
• 2009 – 3,247,898 (rank 4^th)