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The sun is shining, the grass is green and the Tribe is playing again. It`s baseball season in Northeast Ohio.
But if you want to root, root, root for the minor league home team, it`s going to be another year.
Avon Mayor Jim Smith said he wants to break ground sometime next month on a 5,000-seat baseball stadium at the corner of Interstate 90 and state Route 611. The ballpark will open the first week of June 2009 and will be home to a brand-new Frontier League expansion team.
Smith said he expects about 2 million people a year to visit the stadium, driving up local tourism and bringing a host of new businesses to the Interstate 90 corridor, including a hotel, restaurants and offices.
There will be plenty for adults to do, too – including a party patio with beer and concessions, loges and tie-ins with local company fitness plans.
Smith said the stadium will be a lot easier to build than an office building or Avon`s police department, so it won`t take nearly as long to finish.
Terri Manns, vice president of fund development for the Cleveland YMCA, said her organization needs about $5.2 million to build the new athletic facility, which will include a traditional gym, hockey rink and swimming pool.
A big part of that will come from a 0.25-percent income tax increase passed by Avon voters in November. The tax will raise $1.2 million a year over the next 30 years to build the $6 million to $9 million stadium and the $14.2 million YMCA.
Source & Full Article: The Chronicle Telegram
See also:
Frontier League Professional Baseball
The City of Avon, Ohio Official Website
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