Two summer-collegiate circuits — the Northwoods League and the Prospect League — are in the running to land a team in the Milwaukee suburb, but neighbors oppose the building of a 1,122-seat ballpark.
Two summer-collegiate circuits — the Northwoods League and the Prospect League — are in the running to land a team in the Milwaukee suburb, but neighbors oppose the building of a 1,122-seat ballpark.
Private donors would build the new ballpark on the north side of the campus of Concordia University in Mequon, Wis., located north of Milwaukee. Mequon's community-development staff has signed off on the proposal; the city's Planning Commission discussed the matter last night and approved the project but implemented conditions that would prevent a summer-collegiate team from playing there. That puts the project in serious doubt: Jim Kacmarcik, owner of Kapco Inc. in Grafton, has offered to build the ballpark for the university in exchange for having a summer-collegiate team play there. With no summer-collegiate team, there's no way the ballpark will be built. Concordia University will meet with residents to persuade them to support summer ball; given this delay, the ballpark's opening probably won't come before 2011.
Neighbors are concerned about the impact on the area, both from the lights and from the beer being sold on the alcohol-free campus. The ballpark design would be simple, with a steel grandstand.
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