For now, prospects of a new ballpark in Parkersburg, WV have diminished, according to local officials.
At various points in the past, Parkersburg has been involved in an effort to attract a Frontier League franchise. As recently as January 2015, we noted that the city was in discussions with the owners of the Washington Wildthings about possibility bringing a team to the city and constructing a new ballpark.
That has not since led to a ballpark project taking shape, and area officials are now saying that such a development is unlikely to take place anytime soon. Sam Winans of the Wood County Development Authority noted the amount of skepticism for funding the project, and Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee said that considerable time has passed since the last discussion he could remember about the proposal. More from The News Center:
We asked: Is that also a feeling among the general public, of ‘this sounds like a good idea, except that I’m going to have to pay for it’?-in terms of taxes.
“It could have been,” he responded, “and I think it was a real killer that a number of naysayers did not want a lot of public money in there.”
Winans adds then-mayor Bob Newell proposed a $1 fee on parking at the ballpark complex, to help pay for the project.
Bill Lee, Commissioner of the Frontier League, of which the proposed team could be a member, says the last discussion he recalled about the project was nearly two years ago.
Parkersburg had a franchise in the Frontier League during its early seasons, as it was home to the Ohio Valley Redcoats from 1993-1998.
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