In Brief : Tempe Considers Baseball Stadium

The owner of the the Pacific Coast League Phoenix Firebirds says he wants the city of Tempe to trade land at a baseball complex for land in southern Tempe where he can build a new stadium.

The proposal calls for the city to trade 60 acres at Diablo Stadium to SunCor Development Corp. for 130 acres at Elliot and Kyrene roads on the far southern end of Tempe.

Martin Stone says he would build the baseball stadium, which he says may house a major league team, and practice fields on the 130 acres plus another 65 city-owned acres bordering the SunCor property.

The Tempe City Council is to decide Thursday whether to spend $105,000 on a study to determine the economic impact of minor and major league baseball in Tempe. City Manager Terry Zerkle said that if the city goes ahead with the study, negotiations with Stone would begin.