Burnsville minor-league ballpark, team on shaky ground

The developers of a new minor league baseball stadium in Burnsville may have struck out, with no land deal at their proposed location, the northwest corner of Interstate 35W and Hwy. 13.

The proposed $30 million home field for the fledgling Metro Millers was to be built on 18 acres in a site called the Minnesota River Quadrant. To make that possible, developers and co-owners Terry DeRoche of Prior Lake and Tony Pettit of Lakeville planned to buy the land from Astleford Family Limited Partnership of Burnsville. But an Astleford representative recently wrote the city a letter saying that the site deal was off.

"Right now, I would say it's not going anywhere," city planner Chris Slania said of the proposed stadium.

DeRoche refused to comment Monday on the site issues, as did a Metro Millers spokesman, Pete Stoddart. But Stoddart, while refusing to elaborate on the land questions, did say: "The Millers are still working on their plan to make this stadium project a reality in Burnsville and to make Millers baseball a reality as quickly as possible."

But clearly, the Millers face major obstacles if they're to play ball in the Northern League, according to city correspondence.

"The principals of that proposed project have not been in contact with me in several months, and have yet to honor the terms we agreed upon," Astleford's Tom Gallagher wrote to the city Nov. 25, requesting that the land-use application be dropped.

"I am not willing to leave their land use proposal on the table any longer for the city's consideration," Gallagher wrote.

Then, in a letter written Thursday, the city informed DeRoche that because Astleford, the property owner, had withdrawn consent to the land use for the Metro Millers ballpark, the city would not be able to continue considering the application or completing a required environmental assessment worksheet.

"It was somewhat of a shock to us," Slania said. "We know the economy has been slowing down a few projects here and there, but we didn't know this was their plan until we got this letter."

The stadium, which the developers have said would have 5,200 fixed seats and capacity for 7,300 fans, would have been a completely private deal. The city was involved only as the regulatory agency for the land use application and the environmental assessment.

Monday, the news of the letters and the apparent scuttling of the project caught Northern League baseball commissioner Clark Griffith by surprise. He contacted DeRoche.

"I've talked to people in Burnsville and they do not believe that's the case and are very close to being in a position to secure the transaction with Astleford," Griffith later told the Star Tribune.

In late September, he had spoken to more than 100 business leaders and public officials, assuring the skeptical among them that even with the nation's deepening financial crisis, the stadium project was still on. He said the investors hoped to break ground this year and have the players on the field next summer. The developers later admitted that the project would be pushed back at least a year.

Among those listening in September was Rick Vail, an administrator of the Metro Baseball League in Burnsville, which is a traveling league for kids ages 10 to 15. Vail and his league had planned to have an office at the stadium, where the youths could get access to the field.

"This is the first we've heard of it; we talked to Terry the day before Thanksgiving, and he said it was still going," Vail said Monday evening. "That's certainly disappointing for us, but I guess [it's] tough economic times."