What was once an apple orchard may truly become a field of dreams if a proposed minor league baseball stadium is approved and built in the town of Ramapo.
He is so sure it will be a home run for Rockland County that town of Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence had no trouble pitching the idea to the Rockland Business Association on April 15.
Addressing members and guests at a luncheon at the Rockland Country Club in Sparkill, St. Lawrence came armed with preliminary sketches of the proposed 3,500 seat Class A minor league stadium, to be built on 62 acres next to the Fire Training Station in Pomona. Nine-hundred parking spaces are included in the plan.
The land was originally slated to become town homes, but when the developer pulled out of the project, the town bought the acreage for $7.5 million. According to the draft environmental impact statement, the land is already zoned for a ballpark.
St. Lawrence said the purchase was made “several years ago and we got an unbelievably wonderful price for it. We have spent approximately $50 million in the past five or six years acquiring open space and parkland. This ballpark won”™t only cater to minor league baseball. It will become a recreational destination for residents of Rockland County.
“We were originally talking with Gene Michaels from the Yankees about bringing Triple A minor league baseball here, and we”™re still talking” said St. Lawrence, “but we are proposing a smaller, family-friendly stadium.” (The Yankees were pitching a 10,000 seat facility, said St. Lawrence.) “We are in talks with several teams and sponsors to use this as their home park,” said St. Lawrence.
Baseball is a 50-day season, St. Lawrence told RBA members. “That leaves the town with 315 days for family gatherings, high school college events and our nonprofits to use the stadium, either for fairs, concerts or other venues. We are proposing 21 field boxes and a conference center on site to make it business-friendly. We intend to make this a centerpiece for Rockland County”™s recreation and a destination for people within and around the county.”
The $16-20 million project would use 30 acres of the original 62 acres at the site. St. Lawrence pledged that local labor and craftsmen would be used to build the facility. A draft environmental impact statement with renderings and proposed exits and entrances onto area roads and parkways can be found on the town”™s website, ramapo.org.
St. Lawrence says the stadium will create a minimum of 100 construction jobs, at least 30 permanent full-time, year-round jobs and between 70-90 part-time jobs during the baseball season. “This will become an income generator for Ramapo,” said St. Lawrence, adding any team agreeing to use it as their home park will pay $1 for every seat in the house, whether it is filled or not.
“Between the town”™s excellent bond rate and the income we expect to generate from this project, I believe it will have no impact on homeowners or on town taxes,” St. Lawrence said. “In my opinion, it”™s a no-lose situation.”
Picnic areas, a “kid zone” and park-friendly amenities will be included in the design work. “This is truly going to be a stadium for all seasons,” said St. Lawrence.
If all the approvals are in place, St. Lawrence said he hopes to see work begun in summer, 2010.
Al Samuels, president of the RBA, is enthusiastic about the project and says it will create jobs and a destination for those who live west of the Hudson. “As far as mitigating construction or traffic concerns, that”™s going to be up to engineers to decide how best they can move the flow of visitors in and out of the area,” said Samuels.
“For us, it means jobs, business and another destination for the people of Rockland and Orange counties, or anyone else who”™d like to come to a ball game or concert. Our close proximity to northern New Jersey makes it very appealing for them to visit as well.”
Even with a stadium, the path to attract a team is difficult. Yonkers seeks to build its own minor league park ”“ as yet without a team ”“ and Fort Collins, Colo., (pop. 126,000) tried unsuccessfully for years to attract a team and now contents itself with a collegiate summer league.
St. Lawrence isn”™t just pitching the proposed ball field. He”™s also announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor in the 2012 elections. “I”™m running independently. Whether I am chosen or not, it has given me the opportunity to travel to many other areas and see how much we have here in comparison to western and eastern regions of New York. Yes, we are hurting, but not as badly as other parts of the state.”
