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New Montgomery County ballpark fate tied to theme-park development

American AssociationA much-anticipated new ballpark in suburban Houston is on hold while local officials wait to see whether a $500-million theme park will be built.

Ventura Sports Group and the East Montgomery County Improvement District (EMCID) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in March 2010 for a new independent-league ballpark in the Houston suburb, to be partly funded by a 1.5 percent sales tax on all goods and services purchased within the EMCID boundaries. The original plan called for a 4,500-seat ballpark housing an independent American Association team, opening in 2012.

Well, here we are in 2012. The ballpark plan has been through a few iterations before EMCID officials settled on a plan to pair the facility with a proposed $500-million EarthQuest theme park. No work has been done on either project, with financing for the theme park an open question mark.

The decision to pair the small ballpark with the extremely large theme park may save a few bucks on shared parking and utility work in the future, but in the meantime it’s pushed baseball in Montgomery County back to probably 2014 at the earliest.

RELATED STORIES: Ventura Sports, Montgomery County sign MOU for new ballpark

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