Chill must make Fort William Stadium home due to poor conditions at Chapples

Given the state of Chapples Field, Tony Colistro says the Thunder Bay Chill have no choice but to play at Fort William Stadium this season.

But it also leaves them at the mercy of the city’s conditions.

On Monday city council is expected to present the terms of an agreement to allow the Premier Development League team to take up temporary quarters on the artificial turf at Fort William Stadium, a deal Chill owner Tony Colistro said could cost the team considerable money in concessions revenue.

Under the new deal the team will not be allowed to sell food at the stadium, but instead will earn 16 per cent of the gross food and beverage sales generated at games.

The team, which helped negotiated the deal with the city, will retain 100 per cent of revenue derived from alcohol sales.

The contract also allows the team to sell sponsorships and other advertising at its games, but all signage must be removed following each weekend series.

Colistro said he’s trying to look at the bright side.

“With the concessions, obviously it’s a spinoff, because (the city) is better prepared there and it’ll be run better than the capacity that we had over here at Chapples. We didn’t really have the right facility for it,” Colistro said on Friday.
It will mean less revenue, he added.

“I would assume so,” Colistro said. “I guess it all depends on how many people come out to the games and decide to buy hot dogs.”

The lease agreement sets a $300-per-hour rental fee for games and council is being asked to approve a $40-an-hour practice rate, $45 on evenings and weekends. Should field lights be used, the team would be charged the council-approved rate of $40 per hour.

The team plans to ask council on Monday to waive the practice fees, which would cost the city approximately $1,910 in lost revenue, based on the Chill’s current practice schedule.

Ideally Colistro would like to see improvements made at Chapples Field, a natural grass surface that has been plagued by poor drainage issues.

On Friday, after heavy rains fell overnight, the field was dotted with large puddles of standing water. The Chill are expected to open training camp on Saturday, with some practice time scheduled for Chapples during the next two weeks.

But Colstro said his concern goes well beyond the PDL squad.

“We’re fortunate that we’re able to use the stadium, so we’re definitely blessed with the fact that we have a facility like that in our city,” Colistro said.

“But it’s not enough for what we need for our youth programs. We were supposed to start this week, but now we’re waiting for Sunday to start – and I’m not even certain we’ll be able to start on Sunday.”

The Chill begin PDL play on the road in St. Louis in May 23.