City Backs Plan to Build Minor League Stadium

They haven’t got a clue how to pay for it.

But a divided City Council early Tuesday morning nonetheless embraced plans to build an $18.7-million minor league baseball stadium and agreed to form a council subcommittee that will spend the next six weeks coming up with a viable financing plan.

The council’s decision to pursue the so-called Centerplex project was the first major step toward bringing minor league baseball back to Ventura after a decade.

The city’s last venture into Class-A baseball lasted only one season when the team left because of lagging attendance and poor facilities.

But baseball supporters say a new 5,000-seat stadium on 22 acres behind the Ventura Auto Center would draw crowds from around the region, boost car sales and give the community a top-notch sports and entertainment venue.

“This is something that has to be regarded as something for the families,” Ventura resident Jim Barroca told the council.

But some residents and council members questioned whether the city should invest millions in taxpayer dollars in a project that would drain city reserves and potentially never pay for itself.

“To me, it’s pretty bleak,” said Councilman Gary Tuttle, who along with Councilmen Ray Di Guilio and Jim Friedman will serve on the Centerplex subcommittee.

At one point late in the meeting, Councilman Steve Bennett threw a curveball at his colleagues by suggesting that the council place a measure on the November ballot that would ask Ventura voters to cast an advisory vote for or against the project.

“This is special. This is not a $250,000 skateboard park,” Bennett said. “This is a multimillion-dollar ballpark and I would encourage citizen input on that.”

But the council majority shot down Bennett’s plan, arguing that the council should not take specific projects to the voters and use a ballot measure as a soundboard for public opinion.

“This is the wrong arena,” Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures said.

“We can do surveys,” she told Bennett. “That might give you some comfort.”

Consultants hired by the city say the proposed 5,000-seat ballpark would draw baseball fans from around the region and, after five years, turn a modest profit.

But they also said that after five years the project will only break even on its annual operating costs, and may never generate enough money to pay the city’s debt.

“It comes down to measuring public benefit against the investment you are going to make,” Berkeley consultant Walter Keiser told the council. “There is no way that a project like this is going to pay a portion of debt service.”

Even so, the council majority said it wanted to pursue the project, which was pitched to city leaders for the first time last year and carefully studied in the months that followed.

“We have come so far and taken so much time,” Councilman Jim Friedman said. “To cut this project at its knees right now just wouldn’t be prudent.”

Despite the late hour of the Centerplex debate, about 14 people waited until midnight Monday to share their views on the proposal. The final vote came shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Supporters said the new stadium would be a regional draw that would benefit the community and stimulate business at the nearby Ventura Auto Center.

“Minor league baseball stadiums can be a great source of community pride,” Ventura resident Dean Lenaburg said.

But critics said the proposal would drain city coffers and take money away from other projects, such as libraries and repairs to the city’s pier and bike path.

“This is a loser,” resident Bo Brooks said. “Considering the debt service and the funding options, it can be construed in no other way.”