ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FAIRFAX
SOURCE: Associated Press
A group of investors hoping to bring major league baseball to Northern Virginia said it prefers a stadium site in Springfield that already has been rejected by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
The word comes only one day after no Virginia localities met a 5 p.m. Monday deadline to submit proposals and $150,000 application fees to the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority that was to screen the proposed sites.
``If we had to pick one site today, it would be the Army's Engineer Proving Ground site,'' Michael Scanlon, executive vice president of Virginia Baseball Club, said Tuesday. The group wants the state to build the park.
``We are looking for a site that fits in with the neighborhood, has access to major highways, public transit and to downstate Virginia, and that site meets them all,'' Scanlon said.
Monday's failure by any localities to meet the authority's deadline followed months of speculation that once had as many as 13 Northern Virginia sites up for discussion as prospective locations for the proposed stadium.
Local opposition led Loudoun and Fairfax counties to drop out of the bidding, Stafford County quit when it thought its plans were not being taken seriously, and Arlington County never submitted its application fee.
Arlington's site, in the main flight path of Washington National Airport, was criticized as potentially dangerous by Federal Aviation Authority and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority officials.
The local opposition in Springfield, meantime, remains adamant.
``As far as I am concerned, the two sites in my district are both off the table,'' Supervisor T. Dana Kauffman said of the Army site and a second piece of federal property. ``I would encourage them to look elsewhere.''
``If they think we're going to go away, they're wrong,'' said Alonza Caldwell of the West Springfield Civic Association, which has opposed the former proving ground as a ballpark site. ``In fact, the new process is going to give us more time to organize.''
The Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority said it has re-opened its search, reviewing sites previously rejected and inviting suggestions from private landowners who think their property might be good for baseball.
``If someone has 200 acres available for a stadium, I would suggest they color it on a map and send it in,'' said authority member Michael R. Frey.
The authority is taking a new tack in its process. It will operate much like a private developer, going out on its own to evaluate possible sites. That means the authority might not need approval from local elected officials until after a preferred site is identified, when it's time to apply for zoning and other approvals needed to build the $300 million complex.
``We will take control of the process,'' Frey said.
Nothing will be built if a financing package is not approved by the General Assembly, which Monday postponed a decision on how to raise money for the project until July 1. Further, the investors still need to land a team.
The goal has been to build the stadium by 1999, with the team using Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in the District of Columbia until then.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB