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City Council approves 10-year management deal, turf plan for Stephen J. Underwood fields
Summary
The Des Moines City Council approved a 10-year management agreement with NWS Holdings (Perfect Game) to upgrade and operate the Stephen J. Underwood baseball complex, including a proposed conversion to synthetic turf at an estimated $400,000–$500,000 and a 10-year lease tied to turf life and a convenience-termination penalty.
The Des Moines City Council on Oct. 9 approved a 10-year management and improvement agreement with NWS Holdings (operating as Perfect Game) to manage, program and upgrade the Stephen J. Underwood (SJU) sports complex, including a plan to replace the three dirt fields with synthetic turf and to run regional tournaments at the site.
City Public Works Director Mike Slevin told the council NWS approached the city in July and proposed taking over operations and maintenance of the fields, programming tournament use, and installing synthetic turf over existing underdrainage. "They were very excited about that," Slevin said, noting the subsurface drainage already at SJU made a turf retrofit more feasible and could avoid additional SEPA review for certain work classified as maintenance. Slevin said NWS estimates the turf upgrade budget at about $400,000 to $500,000 for the three fields and that the turf's top layer is expected to last roughly 10 years.
The council majority approved the agreement 6–1. The agreed terms include a…
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