Take Me (back) Out To The Ballgame: Avista Stadium's New Concession Area Opens After Devastating Fire Last Year

Jul. 29—The concession stand at Avista Stadium is open again after a devastating fire and around $1 million in losses.

Spokane Indians officials say the ballpark's fare is improved with new fryers, in-house seasoned carnitas and a new hot dog added to the menu.

"With the new equipment, it really gave us the opportunity to provide consistency," said Josh Roys, Indians vice president of concessions and hospitality. "It's the ovens that we use for a lot of the stuff, they are extremely high-tech and (produce the same quality burger every time."

The fire in early September impacted a third of the team's revenues and left the concessions operation scrambling to find a solution. For a quarter of the season food was cooked out of three buildings.

"In the past, when we tried things, we could do it, but ... we could do some things well, and some things we just weren't able to do consistently well. And that's not something that you want to offer out to people to purchase," Roys said. "We were able to keep the majority of our menu intact, but ... the pretzels, we just weren't able to do."

Season ticketholder Rick Freier says the concession stand is a home away from home.

"The nice thing about the new concession stand is number one, it's new," he said. "So the grills are new. The air duct systems new. All the safety signatures are new and intact. And they do a burger of the week to every home stand ... they've got the efficiency that allows it to get to the customer hot."

The fire caused plenty of issues for operations.

"Our three largest revenue streams are the ticketing, the marketing, and the concessions, which cover roughly a third each. So when you have a third of your business impacted to that degree, it's definitely challenging," Roys said. "We saw a lot of increased labor. ... We were definitely running higher costs through those first 30 or so games."

When the concession stand was down, the Indians still had to provide food and drinks to spectators. Operations were run out of three different locations, which included the Bigfoot Cafe and Bistro at Spokane Community College, the Fair and Expo Center, and a tent on the Avista Stadium grounds.

Trying to make the operation work without the stand was tough.

"For the first six weeks, I spent the majority of my time from about 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock driving back and forth between the center, just ferrying product back and forth as they were bringing stuff back over and helping with setup there, and then additional people bringing stuff back and forth to the college," Roys said. "We would have to go bring dishes out, and then bring those back either to the Expo or to community college to wash each day, and just repeat that cycle."

While the stand is back with numerous upgrades, so is the stand's bestselling item.

"We were able to settle on a fantastic all-beef hot dog," Roys said. "It's the hot dog, the No.1 selling food item. ... It's the staple. Everybody goes to the ballpark to have a dog."

While the stand has seen many improvements, it wasn't without its costs.

"It ended up being, with all the inventory and acquisition, about a million dollars in stuff that was lost on our end. That doesn't even include the building, which is the county's property," Roys said.

For regulars like Freier, the stand reopening brings back the ballpark's identity.

"You're there to be entertained. Baseball is American, and you're there to get a good dog or a good burger and a soda or a beverage of your choice," Freier said.

Troy Slack's reporting is part of the Teen Journalism Institute, funded by STCU with support from Comma.