Repairs of damage caused by several sinkholes at North Little Rock's Dickey-Stephens Park are nearing completion, the city's chief engineer said Tuesday.
Sinkholes began appearing along the outfield warning track, in the outfield and bullpen in December after heavy rains and flooding from the Arkansas River. Work to repair the damage and to replace the ballpark's drainage system began in January and is ahead of schedule, Chief City Engineer Chris Wilbourn said.
"Everything we're doing now is completely aboveground," Wilbourn said. "Nothing below the surface is remaining to be done. We're rebuilding the warning track."
The North Little Rock City Council authorized without any hesitation Monday night the spending of an additional $75,000 to complete the work, raising the total appropriated to almost $450,000.
In January, the City Council voted to waive competitive bidding and appropriate $375,000 toward emergency repairs to the ball field to avoid any risk of delaying season preparations for the Class AA Arkansas Travelers baseball team. Home games for the team begin April 7 at the park.
"At the time we started, I didn't know if we could get 100 percent of the work done [by now]," Wilbourn said. "I thought there was the possibility we would have to go on after the season. We're actually getting 100 percent done."
As of March 5, $372,988.40 in work had been completed, according to the resolution allocating the additional $75,000. The City Council approved the legislation 7-0 with Alderman Steve Baxter absent. Of the total, $177,738.25 is being paid to Diamond Construction Co. of North Little Rock, the main contractor hired by the city.
The additional funds were needed, Wilbourn said, because there were "items that came up that were not estimated" in the original cost projections. That includes the amount of grass being replaced and cleaning of 70 cubic yards of material out of a pump station, he said.
The new allocation includes buying 2,000 square yards of grass from Texas that is to be delivered and put down Thursday, Wilbourn said. Replacing a damaged bullpen fence is also included in the added amount.
The city-owned, $40.4 million ballpark at 400 W. Broadway is on the north side of the city's Riverfront Drive and on the east side of the Broadway Bridge that crosses the river between Little Rock and North Little Rock. Rain and high river levels in December are believed to have caused the sinkholes when the field couldn't properly drain, city officials have said.
The largest sinkhole, Wilbourn said in January, was about 35 feet in diameter and at least 6 feet deep.
The bulk of the repairs so far has been rehabilitation and replacement of about 600 feet of drainage pipes. The ballpark's playing surface was constructed at a depth of 12 feet below street level. The ballpark opened in 2007.
"When we dug down into it, the whole [drainage] system was completely compromised," Wilbourn said. "Nothing was working from a drainage standpoint."
Mayor Joe Smith said last week's five days of rain in central Arkansas would likely help with the ballpark repairs by packing down a top layer of sand used in preparation for the sod to be put down.
"Our engineering staff is very confident we've fixed the problem," Smith said. "Where we really get killed is when the river comes up and stays up for a long time."
Sinkholes have been a problem in previous years at the ballpark. The first occurred in 2008 when a hole about 5 yards wide opened up in the outfield. Smaller sinkholes have appeared and been repaired since then, including during last year's baseball season when the river rose toward flood level last spring.
In 2008, the city negotiated with different companies involved in the ballpark's construction after the first sinkhole appeared. Several companies agreed to share responsibility, resulting in paying the Public Building Authority $135,000 toward future problems, Smith said.
The Public Building Authority had $88,000 remaining, part of the city's appropriated amount for the repairs. The remainder comes from 2015 sales tax capital funds, according to the legislation.
The cost of the repairs so far also includes $13,000 to reimburse the Arkansas Travelers Baseball Club, another expense that wasn't included in the original project estimate, Wilbourn said.
The money was for the cost of materials used to temporarily fill holes in the playing field during last season and for extra electricity costs during the recent work. The Travelers lease the ballpark from the North Little Rock Public Building Authority.
North Little Rock voters passed a two-year, 1 percent city sales tax in 2005 to pay for the ballpark's construction. The tax collection ended in September 2007. About $28 million of that tax revenue was used for the ballpark. Private contributions and the value of the donated property are part of the $40.4 million overall total.
Metro on 03/16/2016