An Ottawa council committee today voted to direct staff to negotiate an Ottawa Stadium lease with the independent Can-Am League for the 2015 season.
Staff had recommended the city move forward with the Can-Am League over a competing bid from Mandalay Baseball Properties, seeking to bring a Class AA Eastern League team to Ottawa. The proposed price tag of $40 million for Ottawa Stadium renovations was deemed to be too steep for Ottawa taxpayers. The Can-Am League won the ballpark battle despite teams failing twice in Ottawa. From the Ottawa Business Journal:
Members of the finance and economic development committee directed staff to enter into negotiations with the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball to lease the stadium and enter a team in its Can-Am league starting in 2015.
The vote effectively kills Mayor Jim Watson’s dream of having a professional baseball league, preferably at the Double-A level, affiliated with Major League Baseball.
Image of Ottawa Stadium via flickr.com.
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