MORGANTOWN —
A day before a proposed baseball stadium to be located at the University Towne Centre here is given a public hearing before the Monongalia County Commissioners, West Virginia University athletic director Oliver Luck has welcomed Fairmont State University to join them in the venture.
FSU President Dr. Maria Rose, in a June 14 letter, informed Luck they were interested in joining WVU and a minor league franchise as tenants in the proposed stadium, should it become a reality.
“We are always looking for anything that will give all of our students, not just the athletes, an opportunity to be successful,” Rose said at the time.
In a two-paragraph letter to President Rose dated June 26, Luck wrote:
“On behalf of West Virginia University and the developer, Mon-View LLC, I can clearly state that we welcome the opportunity for the Fighting Falcons baseball team to play and practice at the proposed park.”
Luck noted that there are a number of obstacles, one of the major ones being getting tax incremental funding (TIF) passed to finance the project, before the stadium can be built.
“... however, as we diligently move through the process we will continue to take into consideration this great opportunity between our two institutions and will continue to have a dialogue with you and your leadership team regarding usage of the ballpark by Fairmont State University,” Luck wrote.
Senate Bill 631, sponsored by state Sen. Bob Beach, was introduced in late February and requested 600 acres at University Town Center for the project.
The plan to use TIF to finance the project will be just the second time that type of financing has ever been used in the state of West Virginia, according to Jason Donahue, the real estate broker for the development.
The TIF financing plan was passed by a 3-0 vote by the Monongalia County Commission at the end of May.
The baseball stadium, of which artist renditions have been released by WVU already, is being built to replace WVU’s Hawley Field, which Luck and the WVU administration found to be inadequate to host Big 12 baseball.
This year’s four home series against Big 12 teams will be played off campus, probably in Charleston at that city’s minor league facility, although that is not a done deal at present.
The university and developer, along with city and county officials, have met with Ben Hughes, president of the New York-Penn League, a short-season Class A developmental league with 14 teams in five states, and Hughes has expressed his desire to relocate a franchise at the new ballpark when it becomes a reality.
The addition of a minor league team is crucial to allowing the proposed stadium to move forward, as it gives it a tenant throughout the summer and adds a potential revenue raising tenant to the park while giving the city a summer attraction.
With two colleges and a minor league team, perhaps in addition to American Legion baseball, the facility could be one of the busiest arenas in the area.
Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com. Follow on Twitter @bhertzel.
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