Mayor Jim Schmitt wants Green Bay to explore a new downtown ballpark for the Green Bay Bullfrogs (summer collegiate; Northwoods League) as an alternative to a new Walmart store.
The Bullfrogs currently play at Joannes Stadium, the long-time home to baseball in the city. It’s a small facility, and for years former Bullfrogs owner Jeff Royle sought a new Fox River waterfront facility. This season the Bullfrogs are under new ownership: Big Top Baseball, which also owns the Madison Mallards, Kenosha Kingfish and Wisconsin Rapids Rafters in the same circuit.
Walmart has proposed a new 154,000-square-foot superstore at the Larsen Green industrial site in downtown Green Bay, a store that would require city rezoning of the property. Schmitt and other city leaders oppose the plan and want to present residents with alternatives to Walmart. Enter the Bullfrogs:
The baseball stadium is part of an entertainment concept that he said would include converting the old Larsen Green plant into a multi-use complex with a sports bar, other businesses and residential uses. The stadium would seat about 3,500 people and also could be used for concerts and other events, Schmitt said….
Some who have seen the plans say the idea of building a baseball stadium in the city’s downtown is intriguing.
“It would be pretty neat,” Alderman Joe Moore said.
The proposal will be unveiled today at a press conference.
RELATED STORIES: Green Bay Bullfrogs open new era at Joannes Stadium; Joannes Stadium upgrades approved by Green Bay City Council; Bullfrogs pitch Joannes Stadium improvements, hire Darrell Handelsman as coach; Green Bay Bullfrogs bought by Mallards owners; Northwoods League buys back Green Bay Bullfrogs
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