Burnsville stadium, team line up for '09 start

Despite nervousness over the nation's deepening financial crisis, the developers of a new minor league baseball stadium in Burnsville on Wednesday said they're still ready to play ball.

The $30 million home field for the fledgling Metro Millers is moving ahead, team co-owner and developer Terry DeRoche told more than 100 business leaders and public officials.

DeRoche said that when the project was announced in June, nobody could have predicted that the nation would soon be in the middle of its worst economic crisis in 80 years.

He told those munching on hot dogs and other ballpark fare at a Burnsville Chamber of Commerce luncheon that the project was 100 percent privately financed.

The news that the stadium project is still on was welcomed in Burnsville, where many await further details to be released in late October. They include the identity of a team manager and information on marketing efforts and whether public stock will be offered.

"Over the last 30 to 60 days, largely due to the economic issues in our country, people were beginning to become a little skeptical about the project moving forward," said Ken Slipka, a leading Burnsville baseball booster and former CEO of Force America Inc. "This was reassuring," he said of the presentation.

Economic jitters worrisome

"We've had our moments where it was of great concern, but the equity for our project is private money. We're not depending on traditional financing, and we think we have those pieces lined up."

DeRoche, of Prior Lake, and fellow developer Tony Pettit, of Lakeville, have arranged to acquire the land and develop and build the 13-acre project on a former dump site at the intersection of Interstate 35W and Hwy. 13.

Long-term plans include a stadium village with retail shops and offices on roughly 200 acres near the ballpark.

PCL Construction is poised to break ground yet this year, DeRoche said. Despite a tight construction schedule, the games will start next June, he said, even if part of the open-air stadium is not fully completed.

A team scout is now in place and identifying potential players.

The new team in the independent Northern League, in which the St. Paul Saints played until 2005, hearkens back to the historic, old-school baseball of the Minneapolis Millers, a team that played from 1884 through 1960. The new team will wear a retro-looking uniform, in dark blue, orange and white, similar to the Minneapolis Millers' uniforms before 1940.

Tickets for the games would range from $5.50 or so to $25.

The stadium will have a capacity of 7,300. Plans include allowing local town teams and Metro League Baseball, which are junior high and high school teams, to play on the fields and to have an office in the stadium.

There will be a picnic area, berm seating and box seats, an outdoor patio serving food and beverages, and 20 suites.

"Baseball is huge in this community, and this crystallizes that," said Daron Van Helden, president of the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce. "And it is impressive that they can pull this off in the current economic climate."

City Council Member Charlie Crichton said he's not worried about the city paying for the infrastructure. "We, the city, are going to have to find a way of financing the infrastructure for that area in one form or another, whoever goes there," he said. "It's a very exciting thing to have this here."

Alan Spillers, development director of BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota and president of the Burnsville Community Foundation, is among those supporting the new stadium.

"It's another spot on the map that distinguishes Burnsville from other communities," Spillers said. "It really does help the community identity, and it helps make it a destination, rather than a pass-through. It is an opportunity for families to connect with baseball as it's meant to be, outdoors, a place for fun and to enjoy."