Yakima Bears co-owner and General Manager K.L. Wombacher said last week that any attempt by Yakima officials to try and keep the team won’t change owners’ desires to move it to Vancouver.
The owners are expected to submit a proposal to Clark County commissioners this week. One condition of bringing the team to Vancouver would be that commissioners approve a 5 percent entertainment tax and sign off on bonds to build a 3,500-seat stadium at Clark College.
The short-season Class A Bears would play 38 games a summer.
The $23 million multi-use facility would be used by Clark College baseball, softball and soccer teams and be available for community use as well.
Wombacher said when the Portland Beavers left the area, it opened up the metro market as the largest in the country without any type of professional baseball team.
Yakima Bears co-owner and General Manager K.L. Wombacher said last week that any attempt by Yakima officials to try and keep the team won't change owners' desires to move it to Vancouver.
The owners are expected to submit a proposal to Clark County commissioners this week. One condition of bringing the team to Vancouver would be that commissioners approve a 5 percent entertainment tax and sign off on bonds to build a 3,500-seat stadium at Clark College.
The short-season Class A Bears would play 38 games a summer.
The $23 million multi-use facility would be used by Clark College baseball, softball and soccer teams and be available for community use as well.
Wombacher said when the Portland Beavers left the area, it opened up the metro market as the largest in the country without any type of professional baseball team.
In Yakima, the Bears average approximately 1,900 people a game and have the lowest attendance in the Northwest League.
In Yakima, the Bears average approximately 1,900 people a game and have the lowest attendance in the Northwest League.
YAKIMA — A ninth-inning rally to keep the Yakima Bears from moving to Vancouver may suffer the same fate as a proposed regional aquatic center two years ago.
Last week, the Yakima City Council voted to talk to Selah and Union Gap about teaming up to build a new stadium for the Bears. The minor league baseball team recently announced a tentative deal with Clark County, contingent on construction there of a new 3,500-seat, $23 million ballpark and county commissioner approval.
The Bears want to replace the modest Yakima County Stadium at State Fair Park, but getting a deal done in Yakima has proven difficult. And getting the city councils of Selah and Union Gap to play ball is no easy task.
The favored funding mechanism for a new stadium is the existing public facilities district, or PFD, that already uses a portion of sales taxes to underwrite the Yakima Convention Center.
Two years ago, neither Union Gap nor Selah was willing to use the district to build a proposed $34 million regional aquatic center. And they’re not crazy about a new ballpark, either.
For a new stadium to proceed, the city councils in all three cities would have to independently agree to put the issue on the ballot, because only voters can raise the sales tax.
In an interview Friday, Union Gap Mayor Jim Lemon said he received an email from Yakima Mayor Micah Cawley advising him of last week’s vote.
Lemon said he’s yet to hear personally from any city official and has serious doubts whether the Union Gap City Council has any interest in the idea.
He said he and his colleagues might be willing to listen to a pitch if a new stadium is built in Union Gap. The city had previously discussed going it alone with the Bears, but talks fell through.
“I think if there was that kind of commitment there, it’s possible you could see this happen,” Lemon said, referring to a stadium in Union Gap. “Of course, whether voters will approve, I don’t know.”
Selah Mayor Bob Jones was even less optimistic, saying he continues to personally oppose an aquatic center and doesn’t think much of a new ballpark for the Bears, either.
“To put the money up for 38 games a year, that’s a lot for a stadium,” said Jones, referring to the Bears’ short season.
Jones said he is willing to put the subject on the agenda for an upcoming meeting of the Selah City Council — but only if members of the council want to.
“I don’t think it’s a wise idea,” he said of building a new stadium. “Vancouver has a million people within a 10-mile radius. We don’t. It becomes a game of numbers.”
Yakima City Councilman Dave Edler, a former Seattle Mariner, said he remembers the cold reception the proposed aquatic center received in 2009.
While the idea didn’t get far here, the Tri-Cities’ regional Public Facilities District is considering a $37.5 million aquatics center.
Edler plans to meet with fellow council members Maureen Adkison and Dave Ettl to discuss the next step on the idea of using the district for a ballpark.
“The challenge is, do we really want to be the decision makers for the entire community allowing the Bears to leave town?” Edler said. “That’s the same question before the Selah City Council and the Union Gap City Council.
“I know that they’re fighting for their communities, but I really do believe that in situations like this one, you’ve got to think more regionally,” he said.
“You can find ways to shoot holes in this thing. But that’s true of anything.”
