A vote on a proposed 5 percent admissions tax to help fund a new ballpark for the Yakima Bears (short season A; Northwest League) is expected today — but no one is predicting the outcome. The proposal calls for a 5 percent tax on entertainment (movies, county fair, golf courses, concerts, etc.) admission fees in […]
Tag Archives | clark county
Hearing on new Clark County ballpark set for end of November
Clark County Commissioners will once again discuss the issue of a 5 percent amusement tax to fund a new Vancouver (Wash.) ballpark for the relocating Yakima Bears (short season A; Northwest League). The hearing is set for Nov. 29. There’s a race of sorts for a Minor League Baseball team to set up operations in […]
Milwaukie moves ahead with ballpark-feasibility study
Seeing an opportunity to bring a Northwest League team to suburban Portland, Milwaukie officials have commissioned a feasibility study to determine whether to move forward with a new ballpark. The city is paying $84,500 to three firms — Innovative Campaign Strategies, 360 Architecture and Capital Project Consultants — to determine community support for a ballpark, […]
Clark County postpones ballpark hearing
The Clark County Board of Commissions is postponing a final decision on a funding plan for a new short-season Northwest League ballpark, giving the Yakima Bears more time to alter their proposal — but the clock is ticking. The Bears have until Sept. 23 to finalize a ballpark plan within the team’s exclusive negotiating agreement […]
County scales back commitment to Portland-area ballpark
A 2012 opening for a new Clark College ballpark for the relocating Yakima Bears (short season A; Northwest League) is in serious doubt after Clark County officials scaled back their financial commitment to the plan. At a work session last week, the county commissioners walked away from a funding plan where the Bears would pay […]
Competing ballpark plans in Portland
We have a second ballpark plan emerging in suburban Portland, as Milwaukie (Ore.) officials are working with a former PGE Park vice president on a 4,000-seat ballpark for a short-season A Northwest League team. The plan from Milwaukie calls for 4,000-seat, $20-$30 million ballpark to be built on the Portland-Milwaukie light-rail corridor at a a […]
New Portland-area ballpark could provide economic bump: study
A new ballpark in Clark County for the relocating Yakima Bears (short season A; Northwest League) could generate $206.5 million over a 20-year lease, according to a study commissioned by the Columbia River Economic Development Council. The study indicates the Bears would generate $4.6 million annually from the Bears via ballgames and other events, $4 […]
Clark County reverses course; will exclusively negotiate with Bears
Upon further review, the three-person Clark County (Wash.) Board of Commissioners will exclusively negotiate the terms of a new ballpark with the Yakima Bears (short season; Northwest League) ownership, Short Season LLC. The decision was split — two commissioners for, one commissioner against — and it’s pretty clear the commissioner against, Tom Mielke, will be […]
Clark County passes on exclusive negotiations with Bears; opposition to new ballpark rises
A move by the Yakima Bears (short season; Northwest League) is by no means a sure thing as Clark County passes on signing a exclusivity agreement and some residents say they don’t want a new ballpark in their neighborhood. Clark County is located opposite Portland, Oregon on the Washington State side of the metro area. […]
Bears to exclusively negotiate new ballpark with Clark County
The Yakima Bears (short season; Northwest League) entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Washington State’s Clark County on Friday for a new ballpark, increasingly the likelihood the franchise will be moving across the state to the greater Portland area. The agreement, fairly standard when two sides think there’s a good chance a final agreement […]
Funding plan emerging for new Clark County ballpark
The Yakima Bears (short season; Northwest League) would be asked to pay 30 percent of the cost of a new $23-million ballpark at Clark College, as Clark County officials float the idea of a new countywide amusement tax to pay for the rest. The 5 percent tax would apply to all amusement firms in the […]
Yakima Bears to Portland area
The greater Portland area won’t go without baseball for too long, as the Yakima Bears (short season; Northwest League) and Clark County announced a plan to bring the team to a Vancouver, Washington ballpark as soon as 2012. It’s no secret multiple teams and leagues were trying to figure out a way to get into […]
Stakes high for 51s in Vegas stadium fight
At a time when the economy is still less than robust and public spending on big developments is way down, the fact that two privately financed sports-facilities projects — each with a price tag of more than a billion dollars — are being proposed in the same city is simply amazing. For the Las Vegas […]