City of Glendale seeks to build batting cages
City officials took a step Monday afternoon toward building a new six-bay batting cage at the Glendale Sports Complex Monday as the Parks, Recreation & Community Services Commission OK’d the search for a concessionaire for the new recreational facility.
Following the commission’s approval, parks officials are set to begin accepting applications next month from companies that would like to operate the proposed batting cages for two years with an option to renew for up to five years. The business chosen to run the facility is set to be involved in the $400,000 project’s design process, according to a city report.
The city has never operated a batting cage before, said Community Services & Parks Director Jess Duran.
“I think it’s pretty exciting,” said Commissioner Dottie Sharkey.
Officials have been mulling the idea of batting cages near Field 1 at the Sports Complex for some time and in 2012 set aside development impact fee funding — money developers of the slew of new apartment buildings had to pay — to cover the costs of the project.
Officials have not laid out a plan to recoup the $400,000, but they do hope the batting cages will generate more revenues than expenses, Duran said.
The selected batting cage operator will be responsible for providing all of the equipment for the batting cages, such as pitching machines, bats, balls and safety gear, according to a city report.
The City Council is expected to review and approve the concessionaire contract in October.
The batting cages will open no later than 2016, but city officials said it could be sooner.
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