Frozen water pipes from an extreme freeze over the offseason caused damage to the suites at Security Bank Ballpark, home of the Midland RockHounds (Class AA; Texas League).
An extreme freeze in January resulted in frozen pipes, which led to water damage behind the cabinets in some of the ballpark’s suites. Ultimately, the City of Midland committed funds to repairing the suites, including the replacement of some fixtures within the areas.
The damage was discovered weeks before the season began, and has since been addressed by the city. More from the Midland Reporter-Telegram:
Extensive damage was identified three weeks before the opening of the RockHounds baseball season, and the city directed actions to examine all 22 suites. Environmental testing was performed to determine the levels of repairs necessary to bring the suites back into condition that would allow public use, according to the city. Blackmon Mooring Co. was called for the remediation as a cost of $69,724.14.
Emergency reconstruction then took place to replace sheetrock, cabinets, flooring, painting and cleaning of all interior surfaces in all 22 suites. All testing and inspections required took place in time for the suites to be occupied for the Texas Tech baseball game on April 3 and the RockHounds opener on April 5, according to the city.
Blackmon Mooring completed the reconstruction at a cost of $242,132.94, according to the city. The $311,857 in funding for both contracts is available in the FY 2018 Scharbauer Sports Complex maintenance operating budget.
Tina Jauz, Community Services director for the city, said using the maintenance budget was preferable because this was maintenance and not a capital item. In the past, the city and RockHounds had agreed to a 50/50 split of suite revenue when new suites were added to the ballpark, and the split helped the city recoup some of that money as it was a capital project.
Security Bank Ballpark has been home to the RockHounds since its opening in 2002.