Comment on Ford Park at 10: A complex history

Ford Park at 10: A complex history Beaumont Enterprise Copyright 2013 Beaumont Enterprise. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Published 11:31 am, Monday, April 15, 2013 Hotel, restaurant and other business owners appreciate the economic activity lured to the region by events like the state fair, various trade shows and, most significantly, softball and baseball tournaments. Dean Conwell, Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau director, estimated about 20,000 hotel rooms in the area were booked in connection with Ford Park events last year. The novelty appeal of an ice skating sport in a region not naturally abundant in ice packed the arena for a few games. [...] after a flamboyant beginning, interest dwindled and the team left Ford Park in 2008. [...] two other minor league teams, the Beaumont Drillers of the American Professional Football League and the Southeast Texas Mavericks of the American Basketball Association, have come and gone. From Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban, the inaugural concert in 2003, to the eagerly awaited Tim McGraw concert scheduled June 20, the pavilion gives Southeast Texas fans the opportunity to attend big name shows without driving to Houston. The organization moved its South Texas State Fair to the site in 2004, and barring two years the fair was canceled because of hurricanes, the event has been going strong at its new location ever since, said Chris Colletti, YMBL executive vice president. "Since we've moved from the old fairgrounds, attendance has definitely gotten better," he said.