Fayetteville City Council Approves New Stadium Budget

The Carolina League’s second new team might not have a home for the next two seasons, but it’s getting closer to having one in 2019. The Fayetteville city council on Monday night approved a preliminary budget of $33 million, by a 9-1 vote, for a new downtown stadium. The Astros last month signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the city to bring their high Class A affiliate to Fayetteville and to lease the new stadium for a period of 30 years.

The funds, the Fayetteville Observer reported, would be drawn, in part, from the Public Works Commission, and the sale of a local office building. The next step is to present the plan to Cumberland County officials, who would need to approve the plan. On its website, the city further laid out the stadium’s financing plans in graphic form.

“I think it’s a fiscally responsible plan that gives the balance of city, county and private sector dollars and doesn’t have an ad valorem tax increase,”Councilman Kirk deViere, who led the committee’s financial subcommittee, told the Observer.

If the stadium financing is approved and the Astros do sign on as the team’s parent club, the matter of where the team will play for 2017 and 2018 is still unresolved. Minor League Baseball is currently looking for temporary sites and options within the Carolina League footprint, and there is the possibility of a split-stadium scenario.