Stadium Plan Gains Key Support : Palmdale: Mayor gives conditional approval to land-acquisition deal that could lead to establishment of minor league franchise.

In what could mark the first step toward the establishment of a minor league baseball franchise in the Antelope Valley, Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford has given his conditional support to a plan that would donate city land for a baseball stadium.

The city is in the final stages of purchasing a 117-acre parcel of land between Palmdale and Lancaster, Ledford said Friday. The City Council will begin discussing the purchase next week.

If the purchase is completed, 25 acres might be set aside for a stadium to be financed and constructed by a Valley-based group calling itself the Golden State League, a proposed independent league that hopes to begin play next year.

Ledford said that based on discussions with league president Bob Weinstein of Chatsworth, the city would donate land and the league would erect a $5-million stadium that would serve as the centerpiece of the league.

Ledford said he will outline Weinstein’s plan at the City Council meeting next Thursday.

“It’s a situation where it could be built without cost to the city,” Ledford said. “That’s not typical. . . . We’d really like to have a team here. It’s almost too good to be true.”

The Chatsworth-based league has been attempting to gain a foothold in the region for months and made little progress with city officials in Lancaster.

Ledford said that if the council members greet the plan enthusiastically, Weinstein would be asked to detail his financial backing.

If the league can prove its resources are in order, matters could proceed swiftly.

“If he can actually pull a rabbit out of a hat, we’d be remiss not to pursue this,” Ledford said. “(The land acquisition) is not a done deal, but it has possibilities. I’m excited about it.”

A proposed league member--the Antelope Valley Ravens--could become the first professional baseball team in the region since 1986 and only the second in the past 40 years.

Weinstein plans to field a six-team league of independent clubs. Several independent leagues, composed of teams with no major league affiliation or player-development contract, have sprung up across the nation over the past two seasons, including the highly successful Northern League, based in Minnesota.

Weinstein, a Chatsworth mortgage broker, said he is negotiating with various officials about the possibility of placing teams in Merced, Brawley, Indio, Vista and one undisclosed site.

Weinstein has negotiated with officials from Lancaster for several months about placing a team in the area, but no agreement could be reached.

“If I’m anything, I’m tenacious,” Weinstein said.

If the league comes to pass, Palmdale officials are certain that residents of the Antelope Valley would support the team. The Antelope Valley’s demographics--plenty of young families looking for activities in the region--make a large appetite for baseball likely.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt (the area would support it),” said Al McCord, Palmdale’s director of economic development. “We’d support baseball, hockey, whatever.

“People here are looking for recreation. Lots of them commute to work every day and need things around here to do on the weekend. They don’t want to drive down to L.A. (on their day off).”

Once groundbreaking takes place, a stadium could be completed in roughly six months, Weinstein said.

Terry Judge, a Palmdale councilman, believes the plan will be well-received.

“The overall concept is positive and intriguing,” Judge said. “It’s definitely worth exploring.”

Since 1955, the San Fernando Valley-Ventura County region has fielded a pro baseball team for exactly one season. In 1986, the Ventura Gulls played in the Class-A California League but relocated when the season ended. Channel Cities, located in northern Ventura County, concluded its two-year existence after the 1955 season.