Author Topic: Hagerstown Suns on the move?  (Read 24263 times)

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Offline Lintyfresh85

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #100: February 15, 2012, 10:58:13 AM »
they did last year, and the Nats pulled games from the stadium over the crappy field conditions.  I think the story posted here was that the P-Nats took a cheaper than recommended route in upgrading the drainage system and it failed.

They were forced to double the size of the club-houses as well, they completed the home team clubhouse early last season and were supposed to be working on the visitor club-house this off-season.  They also replaced the grass this winter.  Still, the park is a dump compared to most others, especially if you sit in the bleachers.

I remember all that. It was so bad, that the Nats were skipping Strasburg/Harper/Zimmerman (rehab) from playing on the crappy field.

I knew they re-did the field a second time this off-season. Wasn't aware of the improvements to the clubhouse.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #101: February 15, 2012, 08:09:01 PM »
Suns owner explains that MLB forced his move due to stadium conditions as Hagerstown.

http://www.herald-mail.com/news/hm-suns-majority-owner-said-letter-from-mlb-and-washington-nationals-forced-search-for-new-home-20120214,0,5997244.story

Is Art Silber listening?

I caught a bit of a story on WHAG last night where I thought they were talking about a multimillion dollar renovation.

Offline CALSGR8

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #102: February 20, 2012, 04:04:37 PM »
From the Hagerstown Suns Facebook Page:

There will be a gathering on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 5:15 p.m., at Municipal Stadium where residents and fans can come show their support for the Suns. Hagerstown's mayor, Bob Bruchey, will be present to address the crowd about keeping baseball in Hagerstown.

Offline hammondsnats

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #103: February 20, 2012, 04:05:32 PM »
:pray:

please keep it in MD!!!

Offline Keenan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #104: February 20, 2012, 08:09:48 PM »
The Hagerstown Mayor can say anything he wants to on Wednesday, but it won't have any bearing on the signed letter of intent between the Winchester City EDA and Hagerstown Suns ownership. If the Winchester City Council approves a land transfer on March 13th and financing of stadium is secured by April 17th it will be a done deal for Suns to move to Winchester.


Offline CALSGR8

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #105: February 20, 2012, 11:45:40 PM »
I find it strange that this Gathering is on the Facebook page but no where on the official page!

Offline Keenan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #106: February 21, 2012, 09:36:14 PM »
The proposed Winchester MiLB layout. I-81 southbound would be to right of stadium.

http://www.winchesterva.gov/minor-league-baseball/documents/Fit-Study-PROPOSED.pdf

Offline comish4lif

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Offline Keenan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #108: March 11, 2012, 11:39:55 AM »
Big week for the city of Winchester. There is a Winchester City Council meeting this Tuesday night when council members are expected to take a vote on transferring land in Jim Barnett Park from the city over to the EDA. This MiLB proposal has generated a lot of contentious debate here in Winchester with those opposing the idea being the most vocal. If the land transfer is passed the final remaining hurdle will be financing which must be completed by April 17th, the deadline Winchester and the Hagerstown Suns agreed to. Tick...tick...tick...

Offline Keenan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #109: March 13, 2012, 08:44:51 PM »
*****BREAKING NEWS********

The Winchester City Council has overwhelmingly and unanimously voted NO to building a stadium for the Hagerstown Suns in Jim Barnett Park. Quite the disappointment for me personally. More to come later.

Offline tomterp

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #110: March 13, 2012, 09:27:36 PM »
*****BREAKING NEWS********

The Winchester City Council has overwhelmingly and unanimously voted NO to building a stadium for the Hagerstown Suns in Jim Barnett Park. Quite the disappointment for me personally. More to come later.

Sign of the times.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #111: March 14, 2012, 12:22:53 AM »
*****BREAKING NEWS********

The Winchester City Council has overwhelmingly and unanimously voted NO to building a stadium for the Hagerstown Suns in Jim Barnett Park. Quite the disappointment for me personally. More to come later.

:lmao: F U WINCHESTER!!!

HAGERSBURG 4 LYFE!

Offline Keenan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #112: March 16, 2012, 06:48:40 PM »
Winchester City leaders are now looking at other sites within the city after getting shot down with the Jim Barnett Park proposal. The majority of people opposing the first proposal were not against brining baseball to the city, but were opposed of using park land. If a viable site can be found, I believe Winchester will still get this done. However, the clock is ticking as you noticed today that the Nationals did not renew their agreement with Hagerstown. I firmly believe the Nationals and the owners of the Suns desperately want to move that team out of Hagerstown. If it's not Winchester, it will be somewhere else.

Online HalfSmokes

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #113: March 16, 2012, 07:30:57 PM »
No park land means purchasing land or eminent domain- good luck with that

Offline Keenan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #114: March 22, 2012, 05:44:21 PM »
****UPDATE****

Quote
WINCHESTER- Minor league baseball in the Winchester area may not be dead.

Brian Hester, the lone city resident who spoke in favor of baseball in Jim Barnett Park at a Feb. 14 public hearing, said Wednesday that his family has offered to donate 10 acres of land just north of Middletown as a multi-use stadium site.

Meanwhile, Hagerstown (Md.) Suns owner Bruce Quinn met with City Council during an executive session following Tuesday night's work session. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The idea of putting a stadium is laughable, but nice that a resident is willing to give some of his properly away for free!  The only ideal part of a Middletown stadium would be its proximity to I-66 which is only 2 miles away from Middletown exit 302 on I-81.

Quote
As for Winchester's situation, Buettner would not discuss the nature of City Council's discussions with Quinn Tuesday night. He reaffirmed that a stadium won't be built in Jim Barnett Park but said council members remain interested in bringing baseball to the city.

"As I've said before, I'm very supportive of the project," Buettner said. "The (park) location was problematic, but I still like the concept. I was amazed by how many people contacted me after the vote to say that they agreed with the vote on the site, but were sad it couldn't happen."


Winchester is still working behind the scenes on two different locations within the city limits. We should learn in the near future where those two sites are.

Offline Keenan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #115: March 28, 2012, 06:29:51 PM »
Winchester Star 03/28/12

Stadium/Retail Complex Considered

Quote
WINCHESTER- City officials are negotiating to buy 20 to 25 acres of land in the South Pleasant Valley Road area that could become the home of a complex featuring a multi-use stadium and commercial space.

The stadium's major tenant would be the Hagerstown (Md.) Suns, who need a new home because the city's aging Municipal Stadium has been deemed substandard.

Details about the potential project were provided by a source with knowledge of the negotiations. The source requested anonymity, but Suns owner Bruce Quinn confirmed that the information was accurate.

"This is our dream plan," he said. "Nothing is set in stone; this is just a foundation."

The plan, Quinn confirmed, includes about 50,000 square feet of retail store and restaurant space that would be built and owned by the Suns. The ownership group would pay about $10 million to develop that portion of the project and would operate a restaurant featuring family-oriented entertainment.

"We're making an investment in Winchester," he said.

City Council President Jeffrey Buettner said that during public hearings and discussion this year over whether to build a stadium in Jim Barnett Park, councilors heard from citizens that there was considerable interest in adding minor league baseball to the city's list of amenities. The park, however, was deemed to be an inappropriate site.

"We continued to have conversations with the Suns about a more appropriate location in the city of Winchester," Buettner said. "We're looking at a variety of sites in the hopes that we can address the concerns about road accessibility, economic redevelopment benefits and mitigating the negative impacts on neighborhoods.

"We also have worked with the ownership of the Suns to come up with a plan that would share the risk more appropriately."

No one would specify what sites are under consideration. However, two sites in that area with enough land for a project of such a scale are on Legge Boulevard - one near the intersection with Tevis Street and the other behind the Lowe's home improvement store at 2200 S. Pleasant Valley Road and the Apple Blossom Mall.

The Winchester Economic Development Authority (EDA) would be involved in the land purchase and complex construction.

"We're looking at several sites, and there are two or three that are very high up on the list as potential sites," said Jim Deskins, the EDA's executive director. "Discussion of any one site would be way premature."

Buettner said city officials hope to have one "identified in short order, but we also have a budget we have to stay in, so negotiations are ongoing." He would not provide further information about the project budget.

Until a site is identified, he added, it's impossible to know if stadium concepts developed for the Jim Barnett Park site would work at the new location. However, he said the goal would be to build a facility to serve similar-sized crowds - seating for about 4,000 people and room for about 1,000 more fans in open areas.

The target date to begin play in Winchester would be the spring of 2014, Quinn said. The project must be approved by the city and minor league baseball, lease terms must be finalized and financing must be arranged.

Quinn said about 1,000 parking spaces would be needed to serve the stadium and retail area.

Other concepts for the project that were confirmed by Quinn include:

Handley High School and Shenandoah University would be able to play home games in the stadium, which would also host local youth league championships.

The stadium would host 10 concerts and five family-oriented conventions annually.

The stadium would host a haunted stadium for children in October and a festival of lights in November and December.

It would have a lighted ice rink operating from October to March for figure skating and ice hockey.

Monday and Tuesday home minor league baseball games would provide fundraising opportunities for local nonprofit organizations, such as the Boys and Girls Club of the Northern Shenandoah Valley.

The team would hire 10 interns per year from Shenandoah University and employ students, area teachers and senior citizens to work stadium events.

The team would work with local businesses to promote crowds and foot traffic and would host many community events.

Quinn said stadiums and national restaurant chains have co-located at a site, but he's not aware of a project of this potential size that is geared toward family entertainment.

Buettner and Deskins said the project must spark economic development on a larger scale.

"To make this stadium work," Deskins said, "it needs to be a catalyst for surrounding economic development. It also has to be a multiple-purpose facility and will require 12-month utilization."

Buettner said if and when a deal is closer to being finalized, City Council likely will provide public information and comment opportunities similar to those used during the Jim Barnett Park site discussions.

Quinn said he plans to hold two meetings in April with potential stadium partners.

On April 4, local business owners will be invited to a meeting at Shenandoah University to discuss partnership opportunities with the team.

Later in the month, he'll meet with nonprofit groups who would like to participate in the team's fundraising programs. The date and site for that meeting has not been determined.

Quinn said he hasn't been part of a retail development before, but he has developed office buildings of more than 200,000 square feet in Florida and Louisiana.

Meantime, Hagerstown-area officials have begun discussions regarding the construction of a new downtown stadium.

The Washington Nationals, the major league team with which the Suns are affiliated, have told Quinn that he could lose his connection to the team unless a deal for an acceptable ballpark is reached.

Offline Keenan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #116: March 28, 2012, 06:32:31 PM »
This plan would have 1000% chance of being more successful than the first proposal of Jim Barnett Park. Citizens were just overly opposed to building a stadium in the Park, but by and large, the Winchester community would love to have Minor League baseball come to town. I'm cautiously optimistic that Winchester still gets a stadium deal completed as it looks like Mr. Quinn really wants to come to this town.

Offline imref

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Offline hammondsnats

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #118: July 17, 2012, 02:24:55 PM »
stay in hagerstown. 

Offline Keenan

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #119: July 19, 2012, 11:26:55 PM »
looks like there will be some news out of Winchester next week. Stay tuned...

Offline wj73

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Offline hammondsnats

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #121: August 20, 2012, 04:33:51 PM »
yeahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Offline Kevrock

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #122: August 20, 2012, 04:49:24 PM »
That's too bad. I have a lot of friends in Winchester that I'd love to catch a game with. Move Potomac there instead.  :lol:

Offline Clever

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #123: August 20, 2012, 09:47:04 PM »
Hagersburg foh life!

Offline zimm_da_kid

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Re: Hagerstown Suns on the move?
« Reply #124: August 21, 2012, 01:13:35 AM »
Come to fairfax!