Osceola Heritage Park is a little like Grand Central Station this week.
There is commotion every which way you look. At one end of the complex, people are rushing this way and that, preparing for spring training and the arrival of the Houston Astros. At the other end, vendors and exhibitors for the county fair are busy preparing for the rush that comes with today’s opening. And through it all, work continues on the 8,300-seat rodeo arena.
Players start reporting for spring training this week. They’ll find a new home. The stadium is bigger and better; the clubhouse facilities are new and improved. The Astros should be pleased with the upgrade.
But the effect of renovations on fans is what really matters. Will they fill up the 5,400 seats, justifying an $18.4 million investment in the stadium? Well, you can be sure that the March 1 opener against the Yankees will be packed.
It doesn’t have the classic lines of the Braves’ home at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, but the new stadium offers improved seating, more suites and a friendlier feel. Fans will find a slightly bigger facility with about the same capacity — although seats have cup holders and backs.
It looks good, too. The Bermuda grass on the playing field is a vivid green, and paint is still fresh on portions of the stadium complex this week as the Astros begin moving in equipment and personnel.
Ticket windows are open and empty newspaper boxes for the Houston Chronicle surround the stadium, which is more cosmetically pleasing because of a new color scheme and architectural details.
Those details tie the stadium into the other buildings at Heritage Park, even though two different architects worked on the projects.
The county’s new extension offices, an exhibition hall and show-ring and multipurpose pavilions are ready for fair activities during the next 11 days. It’s hard to get worked up about a big box, but the buildings are new and roomier than the old sprawling facility, which was ugly.
There are 600 stalls and lots of other space for a menagerie of fair animals. The carpet was clean, the clay red, the sawdust fresh Monday when I walked and rode through much of the 120-acre facility with David Peach, the county’s facilities-management director.
OK, the place looks nice and has all kinds of new meeting space. (Some of which might swipe business away from Kissimmee’s Civic Center.) But is it worth the $68 million being spent? Only if taxpayers don’t subsidize it.
Bookings are vital. The fair is only one event — myriad others will make or break the budget.
There is one key to success or failure: the “Cow Palace.” Officials still bristle at my sobriquet for the big box that will have such events as the Silver Spurs Rodeo. It may not be a fancy “palace,” but the arena will be a key piece of the package at Heritage Park. Officials hope to snag things such as concerts, professional wrestling and equestrian events.
It won’t be ready until August. This week as the fair and spring training gear up, workers are still busy welding and ratcheting inside the mammoth structure. Peach is busy making sure the details are done right all over the complex.
There are bound to be some rough patches, but the goal is to make sure the facility is successful — that’s what matters in the long run.
