More ballpark news out of Canada, where the Regina Red Sox (summer collegiate; Western Canadian Baseball League) are once again exploring the possibility of a new downtown ballpark.
The Red Sox play at Currie Field, which seats 1,200 or so and is certainly a very limited facility. But with summer-collegiate ball in general and the WCBL specifically poised for a breakout once the COVID-19 pandemic runs its course, talk of a new downtown ballpark is coming back. True, it’s more a sentiment right now than anything specific, but an upcoming mayoral race may put an advocate for a new ballpark in the office. Regina city councillor Jerry Flegel is running for mayor, and he’s calling for downtown development that calls for a new Red Sox ballpark at a vacant rail yard. The campaign plan is bringing the issue of a new ballpark back to the forefront. From the Regina Leader-Post:
“It would be tougher right now,” said Red Sox president Gary Brotzel. “The economy is not firing on all cylinders but, in the same breath, there are some companies still doing pretty good. You never know. Something might come out of the blue one day and I’ll get a surprise call from someone who wants to get involved in the project.”
The best hope is that a white knight will emerge and toss some private money into the hat — likely for naming rights.
“So far I haven’t found that person who’s willing to throw in three or four million bucks to kickstart it,” Brotzel added. “We’ll see how it goes.”
The WCBL is certainly in growth mode. Besides a new Edmonton-area ballpark in the works for the Edmonton Prospects, the Okotoks Dawgs announced an expansion of Seaman Stadium for 2021, while a new Sylvan Lake (AB) team is set to launch in 2021.