Despite deciding more than a month ago to build a new stadium in Pioneer Park, a committee studying what to do about baseball in Salt Lake City was forced to start its work all over again Monday morning.
Last week, the City Council rejected the Pioneer Park site - part of a compromise with neighborhood leaders to gain their support for an Olympic speed-skating oval across the street. Neighboring residents, churches and business leaders said they didn't want two major sports complexes in the same area."In a lot of respects, we're back to square one," said Harris Simmons, president of Zions Bank and chairman of the committee.
The committee also is faced with making decisions quickly so a new stadium can be in place by the start of the 1994 season.
Mayor Deedee Corradini formed the committee after deciding earlier this year to condemn parts of Derks Field, the city's municipal baseball stadium on 1300 South and 300 West. Two sections of the stadium, supporting 1,500 seats, will be closed during the coming Salt Lake Trappers season. A structural engineer said those sections are crumbling and are in danger of collapsing.
The committee decided Monday to divide into two subgroups - one to study locations and the other to study financing and the design of the stadium. Both groups will report their findings at the end of July, and Simmons said he hopes to have a final recommendation to the city by mid-September.
Corradini and many members of the committee say they hope a stadium will attract a franchise from a triple-A league - the highest level of professional baseball next to the major leagues. The Trappers play in a rookie league, the lowest level. They hope such a team would spur economic development.
Despite an earlier vote to abandon Derks Field, some committee members said Monday they want to at least study rebuilding the 45-year-old facility. A national magazine last week rated Derks the best stadium in the nation for minor league baseball, citing its panoramic view of the Wasatch Front.
"It's a perfect setting, Derks Field," agreed Herm Franks, a member of the committee and the former general manager of both the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs. He wants to study ways to expand the facility.
City parks and recreation officials estimated $4 million would be needed just to replace the two crumbling sections. The stadium also needs to be made earthquake proof, and locker facilities should be expanded.
"It would have to be torn down and built over," Corradini said about Derks. She wants the stadium built downtown, near shopping and mass transportation. She also wants a stadium that could house outdoor concerts. Because Derks is in a residential neighborhood, it can't be used for such things.
City planning officials said they hope to have a list of six possible sites for a stadium by the end of this week, as well as potential problems and advantages of building on each. One of those will be the Derks site.
As for financing, the city has set aside $3.7 million as of July 1 toward stadium construction. However, the cost of a new facility is expected to exceed $10 million.
Committee members said they hope to get money from the state Legislature as well as from Salt Lake County. They also hope a private philanthropist will come forward and offer to help.
The preliminary goal is to begin construction by the fall of 1993.