By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
After the Joliet Slammers brought home the championship in the Frontier League, good news continued for fans of the team, as the city signed off on the lease to keep the Slammers at Route 66 Stadium
Last week’s agreement will give the Slammers a five-year lease to play at Route 66 Stadium, with a provision that would allow the city to bring in an MLB affiliated team with a one-year notice to the Slammers.
The Slammers will increase their annual rent from $25,000 per year to $75,000
But, the Slammers aren’t the only occupants to help the city grow its stadium use.
According to the city’s Stadium Committee, the Route 66 Stadium has had a significant increase in use in 2018.
In 2017, the stadium hosted a total of 28 events between April and September. That number has risen 73 percent in 2018, with the stadium hosting 138 total events, and 27 dates holding multiple events.
Per a committee report, while the were no events from October 2017 through February 2018 due to turf completion, the overall dates booked for events still rose. That usage of the stadium represents a 40 percent overall growth in terms of days used, versus 2017.
The committee expects events to increase in 2019, due to better certainty for availability of dates, the ability to expand with new partners, and the ability of the city’s new director of special events to leverage at least eight months of building relationships with sports and promotional organizations.
In 2018, in addition to Slammers home games, the Route 66 Stadium hosted high school and college baseball, softball, soccer, concerts and a Zumba event.
The city has also partnered with Pastime Tournaments in an effort to secure long-term success. The organization hosts more than 150 sports tournaments per year. The city is currently working with Pastime Tournaments for 2019 and beyond, to utilize the stadium as well as local high school and college fields to help keep tournaments within the city limits of Joliet.
For the remainder of 2018, the city still has several events set for the Route 66 Stadium, including s family fun fest, a K9 event and various tournaments. Already set for 2019 are plans for the Frontier League tryouts, as well as youth, high school, college, and semi-pro soccer tournaments.