FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Hammons Field will continue to be the home of the Missouri State University Baseball Bears for five more years through 2015, thanks to a lease extension signed on Friday.
The MSU baseball team will continue to play all home games at the venue and will maintain use of Hammons Field for practices, locker rooms, weight facilities and training areas. The Missouri State softball team will also continue to have access to the Bill Rowe Indoor Training Facility.
“We are very pleased to have this five-year extension in place,” said Missouri State Director of Athletics Kyle Moats. “It allows our baseball program to play in one of the premier facilities in the country. And as the retirement of Ryan Howard’s jersey on Saturday night reminds us, our baseball program has been strong for many, many years. Thanks to the cooperation of the Hammons team, we have a great opportunity to continue that tradition well into the future.”
The Missouri State University Board of Governors approved the five-year extension on Friday. The agreement with John Q. Hammons Revocable Trust for the University’s baseball and softball programs to use Hammons Field runs through the 2014-15 academic year.
“This agreement is something that has been in the works for a while, and we appreciate the relationship with Mr. Hammons and his company. It is a good deal for everyone,” added 29th-year head coach Keith Guttin, whose Bears moved into Hammons Field midway through the 2004 season.
The annual rent for the field and facilities will be $200,000 and will be adjusted annually by the consumer price index. The total rent will not exceed $225,000 for the next five years.
