In April 2010, Christopher St. Lawrence came to a Rockland Business Association luncheon to pitch his proposal for a minor league baseball park in Pomona.
St. Lawrence came prepared with renderings for the proposed 3,500-seat stadium, which would host a Class A minor league team and be built on 25 acres of a 62-acre site adjoining the county”™s fire training station.
St. Lawrence touted the positives of the park, saying the baseball season only used 50 days, leaving the rest of the year for other pursuits to be accommodated, such as high school sports, concerts, fairs and other events. He compared its success with that of Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, saying the Exit 12 site off the New York State Thruway would be a perfect location to bring minor league baseball fans from Westchester, the Hudson Valley and nearby Bergen County, N.J.
St. Lawrence”™s plans included office space on the main floor of the stadium, allowing for use as corporate meeting space to give the stadium an atmosphere attractive to companies to hold conferences and events.  Nine hundred paved parking spaces would accommodate the crowd, with an additional grassy area set aside for 300 more cars.
The cost of the property was $7.5 million, St. Lawrence told the RBA members, which the town of Ramapo paid out of funds set aside for parkland when plans for a proposed housing complex fell through. He projected the total cost would be between $16 million and $20 million, exclusive of the purchase price for the property. Financing the stadium would be accomplished by issuing bonds, leaving taxpayers out of the financing loop.
Everything moved along smoothly. Holt Construction was chosen as general contractor working under a project labor agreement. DLR, based in Omaha, Neb., was selected as the project”™s architect.
The game-changer in St. Lawrence”™s field of dreams came when, rather than going through the bonding process, the town looked at tax coffers to offset the cost of the stadium”™s construction.
Stung by the curve ball, voters gathered enough signatures to force a referendum in June where they turned ballots into bats, knocking out the $16.5 million proposal by more than 70 percent. According to Preserve Ramapo, the town has appropriated more than $11 million from taxpayer funds to proceed with the work in Pomona.
Preserve Ramapo has retained Zarin & Steinmetz in White Plains, which filed a law suit in New York State Supreme Court last month against St. Lawrence, Ramapo”™s town and planning boards, the Rockland Land Development Corp., which now controls the funding for the project and of which St. Lawrence is president, Bottom Line Baseball, Turco Golf Inc., Morano Brothers Corp., Fairway Testing and Harris & Son, Inc.
While calls to plaintiffs”™ attorneys were not returned, town of Ramapo attorney Michael Klein said he planned to file a motion to dismiss on behalf of the municipality when he spoke last week with HV Biz.
“The field has been prepared and seeded, concrete poured for footings and structural steel has been installed,” Klein said. “It”™s been graded and utilities have been brought to the stadium site. An irrigation system has been installed and drainage structures erected.”
The stadium also has a team lined up to play ball; the Ramapo Boulders, an independent minor league baseball team. It was accepted into the Can-Am League and brings the league”™s total up to eight ballclubs. The Rockland Boulders have their own website and have announced their 2011 season, with the first pitch scheduled to be thrown June 10. Ticket prices will start at $7 for those buying season tickets.
This leaves St. Lawrence and the town of Ramapo in a bind when it comes to financing the ongoing project, which needs another $16.5 million to complete the project.
Despite numerous attempts, St. Lawrence would not return calls for comment.
By the time this stadium is completed, if it ever, is the total cost will be more than $30 million. Bottom9Ball has a crazy one sided agreement with the town which gives it a 20 year lease no matter how much the town loses each year. And given the huge cost the town will easily lose more than $1 million a year!
Robert I. Rhodes, Chairman, Preserve Ramapo
A majority of the people of Rockland County need and want this stadium. I am a native Rocklander and have been a member of the RBA for years. We have been starving for the opportunities the new stadium will afford us to promote tourism, run corporate events, host employee days and advertise. The Boulders were invited to speak to the Tourism group last month and has received an overwhelming response for Sponsorship and large advertising investments from Rockland Corporations, Hospitals etc. All of the proceeds will go to the LDC. Rockland has become an over taxed bore with little or nothing left to do for our children. Growing up in Pearl River from the 60’s we had 2 movie theaters, three drive-ins and numerous other affordable entertainment opportunities all of which are gone. The average family moving to Rockland is down to 1.5 children per household due to this. The “People” of Rockland can no longer afford to pay $300-500 to take their children to a Yankees game. They are excited about the stadium and are reserving season tickets at the stadium in droves. Many Charity and non for profit organizations have also enquired about the fund-raising opportunities the Stadium will afford the. Regardless of the politics surrounding how the stadium is being built the Rockland County needs and wants this stadium. The County Executives office should have embraced the stadium from the beginning and not allowed such a vital opportunity to be dumped in the middle of a political battle having little or nothing to do with the good of the people or the business sector on a whole. There will be a lot of backlash if this stadium does not go through as a result.
Elisa M. Taylor
President,VisionTech Consulting~Member of the Rockland Business Association