Charlotte Knights GM Dan Rajkowski has a series of meetings with banks, civic leaders and elected officials this month to determine whether a new Uptown ballpark for the team is still feasible — or whether the team should be looking for a new home.
Charlotte Knights GM Dan Rajkowski has a series of meetings with banks, civic leaders and elected officials this month to determine whether a new Uptown ballpark for the team is still feasible — or whether the team should be looking for a new home.
It was a year ago when the Knights ownership received permission to build a new privately financed ballpark in the city’s Uptown area. Since then, construction has been delayed by a series of lawsuits (all tossed out of court, though two are under appeal) questioning the legality of the land swaps and acquisitions made by Mecklenburg County to make the ballpark possible. The 10,000-seat ballpark would sit on an eight-acres site bounded by Mint, Graham and Fourth streets and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
To say the team is under the gun is an understatement. The Knights have letters of commitment from Bank of America and Wachovia expiring at the end of January. Extending them may be a tad problematic, given the state of the credit markets and the complicating fact that Wachovia isn’t a home-town bank any longer — it was acquired by Wells Fargo. Because of these issues and the realities of building a new ballpark, there’s little chance a new facility could be opened before the 2011 season.
Complicating things is the status of Knights Stadium, the team’s current home in Fort Mill, S.C. York County officials have solicited bids for the ballpark and the surrounding land; while there’s little chance the county would boot the Knights in 2010, officials there say they want to know by June what the Knights are planning.
The Knights are reportedly first in line for the Richmond market should they feel the need to move; in the past Rajkowski has told us that’s not a primary option for the Knights ownership, but we continue to hear in MiLB circle that’s an option on the table. And what happens with the Knights will affect many future moves in Minor League Baseball. The shift of two teams from the California League to the Carolina League is still slated for 2010, and one of those teams could conceivably end up in Charlotte — or another vacated territory — should the Knights move. And if Charlotte passes on Richmond, that territory will be freed for an Eastern League team, presumably the Bowie BaySox franchise.
More from the Charlotte Observer.
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