Tech Talks in CMMS
with Guest Budgie Clark

Dan Roberge
Well. Hi, Budgie Clark. Thanks for talking to us. Where are we, and what do you do?

Budgie Clark
Where are we. Well, the complex is the new Sprowls Horizon Sports Park. It's in Pinellas Park, Florida

Dan Roberge
Okay.

Budgie Clark
Right close to the borderline of Saint Pete's.

Dan Roberge
Oh, okay.

Budgie Clark
So it's on 62nd Avenue. It was called the youth park at one point. It had some fields, a hockey rink on it as well, which is being restored, to be a hockey rink. So at the at the new venue we have six diamonds, softball and baseball, all synthetic, pure synthetic. So if it rains or whatever, they can still play, unless it's a downpour or thunder or lightning, or anything of that nature.

Dan Roberge
So so let me ask you that about the synthetic. So how did how does the drainage work? Because I mean, it would be different than on on turf. So how does that work underneath?

Budgie Clark
Pretty much the same. They've got rows of pipe going out. We have drainage canals that they can drain right in. Kind of like the canals that they have in California, where they're concrete basins. They're huge.

Dan Roberge
Okay. And it goes through the turf?

Budgie Clark
It stays on the surface, and into the turf, and then specs out. Then we'll have a multi-purpose field, pitch. They call it a multipurpose pitch, that will have football, soccer and lacrosse on it. That will be natural turf. That'll be the only natural turf thing that we have.

Dan Roberge
Okay, so it's a big campus?

Budgie Clark
Yes it is. I'd say about 30 acres. And then we'll have a hockey rink, street hockey rink. And then a playground that you'll see as you come into the front entrance of the park. That'll be the first thing that you'll see. So that'll be pretty cool in that area, too. We'll have synthetic turf as well. So that safety factor, for kids and whoever.

Dan Roberge
How much traffic do you get there? Like, you know, is there a lot of community support? What type of events you have?

Budgie Clark
It will be high traffic. There's no other, venue in Pinellas County, Hillsborough County like this. So it's directed more towards the 12 and under age group of softball and baseball, and we'll pretty much be booked up almost every weekend. And then during the week, we will be mostly local, you know, clinics. I mean, maybe a few games here and there, but more clinics and stuff like that. There's the women's soccer league here. It's a professional one. They're looking at training on the multi-purpose field, possibly. They've been talking to our GM, Mike Nielsen, and,I have met her. Rachel, I think it was name was, Rachel Ford. She was very excited. Hopefully they can get something worked out. And something different, you know, of course we've got lacrosse. I'm not sure how big that is down here. Of course, football is always big. I'm sure lacrosse is big. It's big in high school. So is hockey.

Dan Roberge
Yeah.

Budgie Clark
I think it'll be pretty cool. We open up February 13th. Once the venue opens up, and you come, and you make a turn to come into the venue, there'll be an empty space to the left. That's a future site of something down the road. It's part of the complex. Probably right now it will be used for overflow parking. But down the road, they'll they're going to be looking at doing something else that they haven't mentioned to what that need is, or specialty is. But I'm sure the community will have an impact on it. And just people that are coming in, and just asking, so they'll it'll expand in years. They're maybe a couple years down the road. We don't know.

Dan Roberge
Wow, that sounds like a big part of the community. It's huge.

Budgie Clark
Obviously it was, because it was there before.

Dan Roberge
Yeah, exactly.

Budgie Clark
Unfortunately, the time and and money, they let it kind of run down.

Dan Roberge
Wow

Budgie Clark
Yeah. And then FC picked it up, and they made something out of it. 

Dan Roberge
Wow. That's a great sign. 

Budgie Clark
Yeah I mean that's a that's a great thing for the community, because it brings back into the community as well.

Dan Roberge
Exactly, exactly.

Budgie Clark
And in that area too, there's a lot of restaurants and stuff. So it'll help them as well.

Dan Roberge
Okay. Now how did you get into this? Like, what's your background?

Budgie Clark
My background. I worked for minor league and Major League Baseball for 48 years. 

Dan Roberge
Really?

Budgie Clark
Yeah. I, worked for several teams. Minor leagues, Double-A, from, rookie ball all the way up to Double-A. Then I got hooked on with Major League Baseball. We traveled around the world. I did special events. I did three Olympics, Sydney, 2000, Greece 2004, and Beijing 2008. Actually I got to live in Greece for a year, and became a Greek citizen. And that was very cool. I've traveled all over Europe, and did that, but I also did Field of Dreams. The first one and the second one. The first one in 2019 when we got Covid. Of course we were going to play the game, and then one of the Cardinal players got Covid went to the, casino that night, got Covid, came back, gave, gave it to 14 of the other players there. But he didn't end up getting it. I mean, he just passed it along. So they had to cancel the game. So I lived there for three years, built it, maintained it, and then did the game was which was the, White Sox and the Yankees and if you ever read the book, the original were the White Sox and the Yankees. The home run that was hit to win the game was in the book. And you wouldn't think it was planned that way, but you know, it just missed being in the corner.

Dan Roberge
Yeah, I guess. What a story.

Budgie Clark
And talking to the people that owned it, it's a one generation family. Five generations down. And the guy that ran it, the first time I ever met him, he was walking through the corn. There was corn all over the field, on our side of the field, and it was probably maybe ankle deep. And he come up, and I introduced myself, and he did. Mr. Ray was his name. And he goes, you're going to hear this corn grow every day. I go, yeah, I hear that all the time. Literally you could hear the corn grow. So within a week's time, it was ankle deep, and by midweek, it was shin deep. By the end of the next week, it was knee deep. It was amazing how quick that grew. That was 1,200 acres of corn. So it was a great family that did it. And it was just him. And well, he had two brothers who would help every now and then. But it was mostly his equipment. He had unbelievable equipment.

Dan Roberge
It must have been such a sight to see to it.

Budgie Clark
And then when you couldn't see the corn, I mean, you could see for miles. And then when the corn grew, that's all you saw. You came in, and corn.

Dan Roberge
That's hilarious. Well, thank you very much for talking to us. It's been great. Great stories, I appreciate it. And where do people find out more about your park? And where to go and so on?

Budgie Clark
Well, I guess they can go online, to either Sports facilities company, or I think horizonsportspark.com and look us up. And you'll see the architect venue. A picture of the venue pretty much looks like that. Right now, all the fields and all this, all the fields are gone. And now they're starting to grow in the common areas, and the multipurpose field. So, probably by the end of next week, the hockey rink will be done. And I think the playground will start, so all that's in service is just a matter of time, and then putting it up.

Dan Roberge
Exciting times.

Budgie Clark
Yes, sir. Can't wait.

Dan Roberge
Thank you for talking to us.

Budgie Clark
I appreciate it.

Dan Roberge
Thank you.