A committee charged with raising funds to build a baseball stadium in Ogden has asked the City Council to kick in an additional $750,000 - double its original commitment.
The group was appointed last spring to raise funds for a permanent home for the Ogden Raptors baseball team, which debuted at Serge Simmons Field this year and will continue playing there in 1995.A sizeable portion of the funding was supposed to be raised through donations. However, the 12-member Baseball Promotion and Stadium Development Committee has yet to receive any private contributions.
"It is true we have not received any donations. We have received some very nice pledges, but nothing in hand as of yet," committee chairman John E. Lindquist told the Standard-Examiner in a copyright report.
Mayor Glenn Mecham said the city should pitch in the additional dollars to help promote fund-raising efforts.
"We have identified specific donors who are interested and will commit publicly as soon as it is apparent there is in fact the city support for the project," Meecham said.
But City Council members said they are concerned about committing more money and especially the lack of donations thus far.
In April, the City Council approved a resolution outlining its commitment to a baseball stadium, pledging $750,000 with the understanding that anything beyond that would be financed through private sources.
"Are you now coming back and asking for more money and you have no funds so far?" Chairwoman Bonnie McDonald asked during a council meeting earlier this week.
Larry Catten, Ogden's business development director, said while the committee has not received any donations to date, it has a list of the top five potential donors and are approaching them.
The estimated cost of the stadium, to be built downtown at the old Ogden Iron Works site, is $6 million.
Mecham said the hope is to get the $6 million funding in four $1.5 million increments: one from the city, one from the Legislature, one from a large private donor and the other made up of smaller donations and gifts.