Extra Innings, and Still No Winner - Sources: Ballpark not likely to open this year

Credit: Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll

The view of the new downtown baseball stadium from First Street is much the same as it was months ago, with parked construction equipment and no activity.

By: Laura Graff | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: May 06, 2009

Winston-Salem's downtown baseball stadium is not likely to be finished this season, sources close to the project say.

Construction on the stadium, which is being built at Peters Creek Parkway and First Street, is all but at a standstill -- crews have not been there in weeks. Subcontractors have told the Winston-Salem Journal that they have had difficulties getting paid for their work.

Late last month, one subcontractor filed a lien against the stadium's developers, Brookstown Development Partners and Sports Menagerie Corp., claiming that it was owed more than $84,000 for work it had finished at the stadium. The subcontractor, Right Touch Interiors, did work on floors at the ballpark. The owner, Tommy Adams, could not be reached yesterday.

"No one is happy that people haven't been paid," said Kevin Mortensen, a spokesman for the baseball team, the Winston-Salem Dash. "Everyone is going to be paid."

Team co-owner Billy Prim has said that construction on the stadium has been stalled because of ownership negotiations. Prim is trying to buy out Andrew "Flip" Filipowski, his business partner and brother-in-law. The two have been negotiating the buyout since at least November.

Filipowski is the chairman and chief executive of SilkRoad Technology Inc., a software-development company that yesterday laid off four employees.

Filipowski also is being sued in Chicago by J.P. Morgan Bank. The bank claims in the lawsuit that Filipowski did not repay a $7.4 million loan, which was due in full on May 2, 2008.

The city of Winston-Salem gave the team $12 million to help pay for construction of the stadium, which Prim has estimated will cost about $38 million. The city borrowed $5.5 million of that $12 million. The city's finance director, Denise Bell, said that over the 20-year life of the loan, the city would end up paying about $8.6 million with interest.

The city's money came with a few strings -- among them, that the downtown ballpark must be completed no later than March 2010 and that the team had to help repay the money the city borrowed to help pay for construction.

Deputy City Manager Derwick Paige said that the city could sue the team to get its money back if the stadium is not finished by the deadline. The decision to sue would be up to the Winston-Salem City Council.

The team also was to collect a $1-a-ticket surcharge at the stadium to help pay back the money the city borrowed. Bell said that money is not due until the team starts playing in the stadium. In the first year, she said, the team was to pay the city $350,000. If the team doesn't play any games in the new stadium, it will not owe the city that money.

Meanwhile, the baseballteam -- formerly known as the Winston-Salem Warthogs -- has been struggling to attract crowds.

The Dash, a Single-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, has been playing at Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park on Deacon Boulevard. City officials sold that park, formerly known as Ernie Shore Field, to Wake Forest University last year.

The team does not have a license to sell alcohol at its games, although general manager Kevin Terry has said that team officials are working to get licensed. At a recent Sunday afternoon game, fewer than 300 people were in the stands. Terry could not be reached yesterday.

The team announced last month that it would play all of its home games through June 17 at Wake Forest Baseball Park.

■ Laura Graff can be reached at 727-7279 or at lgraff@wsjournal.com.