Topic: Rumblings of a Marshall Baseball Stadium...**MORE COMING OUT...**

[THECHAMPISHERE]

Poster said the Downtown Huntington FB Page had made a post that an announcement was coming soon. The post was taken down shortly after...

http://www.city-data.com/forum/huntington/1259011-marshall-university-outlines-plan-new-facilities-62.html

Any of you "insiders" know anything?


Also found this drawing of proposed site from last year...

[HaveUherd]

Wow. That would be amazing if it happens. Good location too. Eventually demolish acf and really develop it...

[Herdfan2005]

Haven't heard anything

[Thundering In MD]

Haven’t we seen that plan before.  Not sure that is current.  Fake News???

[THECHAMPISHERE]

Haven’t we seen that plan before.  Not sure that is current.  Fake News???

Right it's not current...that's why I said from LAST YEAR. I just thought I would include that for people who haven't seen the original plans yet..The "rumblings" are current (posted just a few days ago)...the site plans are not.

[Thundering In MD]

Thanks for clarification.  I did not see that you said it was from the past.  I think it will happen, if we STEP UP.  I hope others step up and make it happen.

[Bleed_Kelly_Green]

I saw in social media today that a bid by a new owner was placed to buy the Bowling Green Hot Rods minor league team. How crazy would it be for someone to buy a minor league team in BG, home of WKU, and relocate them to Huntington. The thread seemed to be fearful that a relocation was a real possibility due to less than stellar attendance in BG.

[JEP3rd]

I saw in social media today that a bid by a new owner was placed to buy the Bowling Green Hot Rods minor league team. How crazy would it be for someone to buy a minor league team in BG, home of WKU, and relocate them to Huntington. The thread seemed to be fearful that a relocation was a real possibility due to less than stellar attendance in BG.

Doesn't appear to be Bowling Green's team coming this way, or even a Midwest League team, unless another one is being sold. The Bowling Green team is being sold, but apparently a deal is in place to have it trade hands to another owner who's going to keep it there.

That would make a lot of sense for that stipulation to have to be made, since Bowling Green's ballpark opened in 2009.

South Atlantic League would be a good fit because of close-by West Virginia Power in Charleston and Lexington Legends in Lexington, KY, but I haven't seen any info that a 'Sally' League team will be on the move, nor have I seen anything on that league doing any expanding.

Here's info on the Bowling Green team changing hands but staying put:

http://www.wbko.com/content/news/Bowling-Green-Hot-Rods-could-see-change-in-ownership-489386601.html

On another front... if Huntington DOES get a minor league team, here's the Single-A 'gold standard' it should aspire to be like in minor-league baseball: the Dayton Dragons.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2728595-baseballs-hottest-ticket-the-minor-league-team-with-an-18-year-sellout-streak

[Herdmeister]

I'm hearing that Huntington will get a team in the Midwest League (Class A). I have heard that the Bowling Green, KY franchise is going to be sold. They averaged about 2700 per game there so I don't know why ownership is wanting out. I had not heard that a deal was in place to keep the team in BG
Bowling Green is currently a Tampa Rays affiliate and plays in the Eastern Division. In fact, they are currently in first place
Dayton, also in the east would be the closest rival. They average nearly 7000 per game at 5th Third Field.
Others in the division are teams from South Bend, Ft, Wayne a team near Cleveland and 2 teams in Michigan.
Many western division teams are in Iowa or that area

[IM4DHERD]

IIRC, the outline/map shown below was the result of some hundred-plus thousand dollar study/survey paid for by a grant showing what "could" be made of the brownfield area and surrounding property, not what should or would happen.

[chris88]

Getting a minor league team isn't going to be anytime soon as it will take time to build the facilities etc.  The real coup would be getting a team affiliated with the Reds or Pirates as those teams have the most represented fans in the area.....that has helped Dayton, Indy etc.  But not sure if that is at all likely.

[Herdmeister]

Haven’t we seen that plan before.  Not sure that is current.  Fake News???

That is the spot Mike Hamrick told me that they plan to use

[JEP3rd]

I'm hearing that Huntington will get a team in the Midwest League (Class A). I have heard that the Bowling Green, KY franchise is going to be sold. They averaged about 2700 per game there so I don't know why ownership is wanting out. I had not heard that a deal was in place to keep the team in BG.

The WBKO-TV story seems to indicate that a minority owner is now becoming the majority owner, and he made a deal with the Warren County Downtown Economic Development Authority to keep the team in Bowling Green through at least 2030, because he has ties to Bowling Green.

Seems really doubtful to me this team is on the move to Huntington. So, one of four things may be happening: (1) Bowling Green's team stays put, Huntington looks elsewhere to a different Midwest League sale or expansion (possible for expansion but not likely); (2) Huntington gets the Bowling Green team and the promises made by that future owner all collapse and a crapstorm ensues in Bowling Green; (3) Huntington looks to another league like the South Atlantic League (to me, that seems to fit better for Huntington) or even another development league that may not be a full-season league; or (4) nothing is ready to happen yet, everything's just speculation until the end of minor league baseball season when changes of ownership could happen, but nobody knows for sure.

Best bets to me seem to be (3) or (4) for now, unless one of the team owners has a Marshall/Huntington tie and has quietly informed the city on what it will do after their league season is done.

[THECHAMPISHERE]

IIRC, the outline/map shown below was the result of some hundred-plus thousand dollar study/survey paid for by a grant showing what "could" be made of the brownfield area and surrounding property, not what should or would happen.

Exactly, the rendering this time around could look much different. And then the final product often times looks a lot different from the last drawing shown to the public as things are tweaked throughout the entire process. Just wanted to show people what was once talked about there and what still could be happening to an extent.

[JEP3rd]

Getting a minor league team isn't going to be anytime soon as it will take time to build the facilities etc. The real coup would be getting a team affiliated with the Reds or Pirates as those teams have the most represented fans in the area.....that has helped Dayton, Indy etc.  But not sure if that is at all likely.

I've looked at all of the possible Cincinnati-Pittsburgh options below AA... Class A, Rookie and Development leagues, short-season, etc., who the teams are, what leagues they're in/city locations of those league teams...  and nothing fits right now or even in the near future for either of those close-by major league teams to bring anything else to have a presence in Huntington, unless Cincinnati were to try to build/get a 'Sally' League team to be a rival for the WV Power in Charleston. That would set up a nice major league /minor league city rivalry and stoke some natural Huntington-Charleston fires.

So either that happens, or Huntington gets a different major league affiliation instead of Cincinnati/Pittsburgh... or Huntington builds for Marshall alone, and bides its time for another year to be conjoined with professional baseball.

[svherd]

I'd say the best chance would be a short season rookie league team or an independent team. I doubt we can get an A club at this point. Whatever happens, its gonna have to be a collaboration between the city and MU.

[herdfan129]

I have been openly against the baseball stadium. If its built right there along the river, the city pays for it, and we get a single A team in Huntington then I would be 100% for the baseball stadium.

[THECHAMPISHERE]

On the first pick...in the upper left hand corner of the picture you can see the new Marshall Baseball Stadium...almost a where's waldo thing...if you look hard enough you'll find it.

On the second pic, you can scroll through a few more renderings. Hit the arrow buttons bottom right. 


https://s-ga.com/projects/huntington-brownfields-innovation-zone/

[HaveUherd]

3000 potential jobs and an extra entertainment option for younger people to entice them to stay in the area and put down some roots. Exactly the type of plan we need. Eradicate all the criminals and scummy people somehow as well and maybe the place can try to make a comeback. I really hope those drawings become reality in the near future.

[herdfan129]

3000 potential jobs and an extra entertainment option for younger people to entice them to stay in the area and put down some roots. Exactly the type of plan we need. Eradicate all the criminals and scummy people somehow as well and maybe the place can try to make a comeback. I really hope those drawings become reality in the near future.

I hope all of this comes true as well. Huntington is growing and getting better imo. They should look to hire more police officers and try to becomes more business/worker friendly.

[THECHAMPISHERE]

Supposed to seat 3,500 and be completed by February 2021. Obviously all projections and things could get stalled but good to see things moving forward...

http://www.marshall.edu/purchasing/files/R19BFG-Final.pdf

[Flat Tire 2]

According to Hamrick's below quote in the HD, I wouldn't  hold my breath that the stadium will be built anytime soon.  Not being negative, just realistic.

"Today's Expression of Interest is a preliminary step in what we hope and dream might happen in the future. There is still a lot that needs to transpire to make these plans a reality," said Marshall Athletic Director Mike Hamrick in a statement released Wednesday.

[CoachSkip]

According to Hamrick's below quote in the HD, I wouldn't  hold my breath that the stadium will be built anytime soon.  Not being negative, just realistic.

"Today's Expression of Interest is a preliminary step in what we hope and dream might happen in the future. There is still a lot that needs to transpire to make these plans a reality," said Marshall Athletic Director Mike Hamrick in a statement released Wednesday.

Expression of Interest , haven't heard that in a while . That's a nice way of saying its been thought about , that's it.

[goherd73]

Note also it includes renovation of Gullickson, just like Danny was hoping.

It's a logical next step before a major fund raising project!

I see it as progress.

.

[SuperAnjario]

Expression of Interest , haven't heard that in a while . That's a nice way of saying its been thought about , that's it.

It’s a little bit more than that.  This starts the process that will lead to formal renderings and bids.