Future of Rosenblatt, home to College World Series, is uncertain.
By BLAIR KERKHOFF
The Kansas City Star
Omaha is considering whether to upgrade Rosenblatt Stadium or construct a new downtown ballpark.
OMAHA, Neb. | Attendance is running ahead of last year’s record pace. Souvenir stands are stuffed. Steakburger prices didn’t rise. In many ways, Rosenblatt Stadium never seemed more of an ideal setting for the College World Series, which continues this week.
But all is not peaceful in college baseball’s Garden of Eden.
The future of Rosenblatt, the event’s home since 1950, is uncertain. Stadium upgrades are needed, and the NCAA has concerns about the area surrounding the ballpark.
Some kind of change in venue seems certain, and Omaha has suggested two proposals: Make over Rosenblatt for about $25 million or incorporate a new stadium as part of a downtown renaissance for $50 million.
A third option is for the event to leave Omaha, but the NCAA hasn’t reached the power-play stage yet.
“That option is probably not one that we’re going to consider for a long time,” said Dennis Poppe, the NCAA managing director for baseball and football.
Still, the idea of tinkering with the setting has unnerved some. Coaches don’t want to leave the place many in the college baseball community call the Blatt.
“The stadium on the hill, we’ve all grown up with that vision in mind,” said Cal State-Fullerton coach George Horton. “It would be sad to see it move from this piece of property.”
Omaha has poured $35 million into stadium improvements over the last 15 years, but the city has been fighting to keep pace with the event’s growth.
Rosenblatt Stadium and the area weren’t originally constructed for the crowds that flock to the College World Series, often numbering more than 20,000 per game. Inside the structure, concourses are narrow, and dark exits quickly jam after a game.
But some of the more serious concerns are outside the ballpark. Parking is a challenge, and the NCAA isn’t happy that 13th Street, which runs along the west side of the stadium, has become packed with makeshift beer gardens.
“I’m not sure that beer gardens are what we consider to be part of the College World Series atmosphere,” Poppe said.
The Rosenblatt improvement plan calls for the city to buy homes and businesses along 13th Street and clear them for green space. During the World Series, the land could be rented to vendors, but it would be controlled by the city.
Also, the stadium’s entrance would be reconfigured, which would mean moving Zesto’s, the landmark ice-cream joint, a few blocks to the south.
Inside the stadium, locker rooms would be expanded. That’s the biggest complaint from teams, according to the NCAA, though coaches are careful not to sound critical. They’d rather speak of the area’s mystical charm.
“When we drove from the highway to 13th Street and I saw (Rosenblatt) again, I though my heart was going to jump through my chest,” Horton said.
Would coaches and other Rosenblatt fans feel the same way about a downtown stadium?
“As long as they keep the name Rosenblatt so they’d make it feel like college baseball,” said Mississippi State coach Ron Polk.
But a downtown stadium, like Rosenblatt, would have other tenants. The Omaha Royals have been seeking to play in a more intimate setting for several years. A new ballpark would include 8,000-9,000 permanent seats with the ability to add 15,000 temporary seats for the College World Series.
But the Royals, Kansas City’s Class AAA affiliate, haven’t been part of many conversations about possible change.
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