St. Paul Council to consider stadium lease deal with Saints team
The city of St. Paul and the minor league St. Paul Saints baseball team have reached a final agreement on a lease deal for a new ballpark to be built downtown, the Star Tribune reports.
The city will own the 7,000-seat Lowertown facility and the team will manage it year-round, according to the deal. The lease makes the team responsible for most of the operating and maintenance costs of the new facility after it is built. But city and state taxpayers will pay about 82 percent of the $63 million cost of constructing the stadium, the Star Tribune notes.
As part of the agreement, the city would get a cut of the team’s annual proceeds and part of the sale price if the stadium is sold before 2020, the Star Tribune reports.
The City Council on Wednesday will consider ratifying the stadium development and use agreements.
The team is owned by Marvin Goldklang, Mike Veeck and comedian/actor Bill Murray, who would also have to sign off on the lease agreement.
Demolition continues at the site as workers tear down the former Diamond Products/Gillette building. Work was stopped for more than a week last month after a worker was killed at the site.
Construction on the new stadium is expected to begin early next year. Opening Day at the ballpark is scheduled for June 2015.
The Saints currently play at the 31-year-old 6,000-seat Midway Stadium.
