Cedar Rapids Vets Commission backs fixing water problems at Vets Stadium

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Veterans Memorial Commission last night backed a plan to fix two water-related problems at the city's 8-year-old Veterans Memorial Stadium minor-league baseball park.

Engineering firm Howard R. Green Co. estimated that the most-thorough fixes to a leaky expansion joint inside the stadium and to drainage problems outside the stadium would cost $122,000.

The commission directed Mike Jager, the city's veterans memorial director, to negotiate with the City Council and the stadium's tenant, the Cedar Rapids Kernels baseball team, to see how to proceed and to see who was going to pay for what.

Jager thought city and Kernels maintenance employees might be able to some of the outside work to reduce the cost of the repairs. The outside work can commence quickly while the expansion joint work inside the stadium will wait until after the season, Jager noted.

Danny Wall, an engineer with Howard R. Green Go., noted that the water-related problems at the stadium were only two of 20 different maintenance issues at the ballpark that have been identified by the baseball team.

The club has put the total cost of maintenance needs at about $1.6 million over 10 years.

City Council member Justin Shields has called on the council to make sure it keeps up with the stadium's maintenance.

The ballpark, still considered new by many local residents, cost $16.5 million to build and has debt payments still to be made.