POWERGRAMS

6 Minor League Baseball teams and the stadiums that house them are having a major impact on the three largest cities in Alabama. In Birmingham and Montgomery, the ballparks have spurred millions of dollars in development and renovation projects to revitalize aging downtown districts. It's been more than a decade since Montgomery built the $26 million Riverwalk Stadium Park to serve as home to the Montgomery Biscuits. Officials will tell you the boom of hotels, offices, restaurants, shops and apartments has redefined an area that had been in decline before baseball came downtown. "When you look around this area now, this baseball park was the start of it all," said Charles Jinright, president of the Montgomery City Council. The Renaissance Hotel and Conference Center and Embassy Suites hotel stand nearby along with a cluster of restaurants and bars within easy walking distance of the ballpark. A couple of blocks away, construction started this year on 79C, a mixed-use development with 18,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and 54 apartments on the three floors above. Completion is scheduled later this year and Mellow Mushroom will be an initial tenant. "A few years ago, nobody would come to downtown Montgomery at all," Jinright said. "Now there is a demand for up to 3,000 apartment units down here with 400 already planned or under construction." For Sherrie Myers, co-owner of the Biscuits, revitalizing communities with baseball is nothing new. In 1996, she joined Tom Dickson to launch the Lansing Lugnuts in the newly constructed Oldsmobile Park in Lansing, Mich. Myers and Dickson, partners in Professional Sports Marketing, have developed more than $150 million worth of new minor league ballparks in Dayton and Eastlake, Ohio; Joliet, Ill.; Gary, Ind.; and Charleston, W. Va. And, of course, Montgomery. "Regionally, you change culture. You change attitudes," Myers said from the owner's suite at a recent Biscuits game. "We are aware we have an impact outside of this stadium. We are also aware of the relationships and the partnerships needed to make all of this successful." Alabama Power is among the sponsors whose logos line the scoreboards and outfield walls in support of the Biscuits as well as the Birmingham Barons at Regions Field and the Mobile BayBears at Hank Aaron Stadium. On opening night of the 2015 season, Barons owner Don Logan took in the scene in what is the team's third season in the $64 million Regions Field. All around the stadium, construction cranes towered above apartment and retail projects and the neighboring Negro Southern League Baseball Museum. Alabama Power is doing preliminary work on the adjacent Powell Avenue Steam Plant as it readies redevelopment for that historic property. Logan knew moving the Barons from suburban Hoover to downtown Birmingham would serve with neighboring Railroad Park as a catalyst for development. He didn't know it would happen so soon. "It has been faster than we thought," he said. "There are even more projects coming that haven't been made public yet." More than 500 apartments are under construction within blocks of Regions Field. Having more people living in the area will spur commercial development, Logan said. Barons baseball is part of the resurgence of Birmingham and the Magic City's reappearance in positive national rankings, he said. "I think it gave Birmingham another reason to feel good about itself," Logan said. "We are seeing people come downtown who might not have come here otherwise. That's got to be good for the city and its image." Hank Aaron Stadium isn't in downtown Mobile, but having the BayBears in town does enhance the Port City's image, said Danny Corte, executive director of the Mobile Sports Authority. "Since 1997, the Mobile BayBears have been an important part of Mobile's sports landscape and we at the Mobile Sports Authority have successfully partnered with them on several different events over the years," Corte said. "The management of the club has always been good to work with and we look forward to many more years of partnering up with the club on future events." Construction on the multimillion-dollar McGowin Park Shopping Center is well underway near Hank Aaron Stadium and will attract retailers such as Dick's Sporting Goods, Field & Stream and Costco Wholesale. Back at Riverwalk Stadium, Myers is moving between cheering the Big Mo costumed mascot and kissing Miss Gravy, the pig mascot of the Biscuits. While visiting fans, a man hands her a Lansing Lugnuts hat to autograph. He tearfully thanks her for what Minor League Baseball has meant to his hometown. An emotional Myers responds with a hearty hug. "It's about more than just baseball," she said. "I'm often reminded of that." By Mike Tomberlin Barons, BayBears, Biscuits bring building boom, bucks POWER TO ALABAMA Photo by Dan Anderson The BayBears celebrate a victory. Regions Field in Birmingham is home to the Barons. A sold-out Regions Field.

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