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.
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.