First Year of Operation at Majestic Park Declared ‘Tremendous Success’ for Hot Springs

Majestic Park has been a “tremendous success” for Hot Springs and its residents, according to the park’s general manager, Derek Phillips.

“We all had high expectations for the park,” Phillips said Monday, “and I believe we achieved those goal and more. Our first year saw the five fields at Majestic in pretty much constant use from our college tournament in February through the fall season of competition for youngsters.

“Not only did the park revive baseball for Hot Springs’ kids, but it also brought in teams and their supporters from across the region to enjoy our first-class facility and all the other fun opportunities that our city offers visitors.”

In addition to its recreational impact, the park’s 15 tournaments generated an impressive economic impact for the city, according to calculations completed Monday.

“The Majestic tournament schedule resulted in $1,488,970 in spending by visitors who participated in and attended those tournaments,” Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said Monday. “The tournaments accounted for 10,438 visitor-days during the year. That number tracks the number of days visitors spent in the city while attending the games at Majestic. It’s an impressive testament to the economic benefits the park created in addition to the recreational asset it provides for Hot Springs’ residents and their kids.”

Majestic Park saw 2,022 total games (both baseball and softball) played during the first year of operation, Phillips said. “That’s pretty cool — 2,022 games in 2022.”

The first season of youth baseball in Hot Springs in five years had 504 children on 42 teams participate in league play that began in March and ended in June. The fall league had 308 players on 28 teams, he said.

Phillips said Majestic had these additional landmarks:

• Hosted 18 tournaments in the first six months of the year and 17 in the last six months.

• The Majestic Park Scholarship Fund provided 87 full scholarships for youngsters of all ages to participate. Scholarships covered their league and uniform fees along with any equipment they needed to play.

• The facility hosted the inaugural season of the Natural State Collegiate League, a wood bat league, for collegiate baseball players.

• Majestic Park was the home field for National Park College's baseball program, hosting 29 games.

• It was the home field for the Champion Baptist College program, hosting 26 games.

The new baseball complex was named Arkansas’s Outdoor Facility of the Year by the Arkansas Recreation and Parks Association in September.

The award was presented to Phillips at the ARPA’s fall meeting in Little Rock. The park competed with other facilities in the state that cost $500,000 or more to construct.

“This award is confirmation of the efforts of so many Hot Springs residents to bring baseball back to our city,” Phillips said at the time. “It actually belongs to the people of Hot Springs who believed the late Mike Dugan and others who envisioned baseball being played once more at the site where Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and numerous other legends of the game once played and practiced.”

In November Majestic Park was nominated by Arkansas Business as a finalist in the publication’s Business of the Year competition.

“Majestic Park is truly living up to its motto: ‘Where Baseball's Past Meets Baseball's Future,’ VHS’ Arrison said. “It’s been wonderful to see baseball being played again on the field where Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson and dozens of other baseball immortals played and trained before. Our vision is that it will continue to be a source of pride and enjoyment for Hot Springs and the citizens who bought into the dream several years ago.”

For more information call Steve Arrison, 501-321-2027.