Macon-Bibb baseball proposal sails through committee

Negotiations could soon begin to bring professional baseball back to Luther Williams Field.

The Macon-Bibb County Commission Committee of the Whole sent a resolution to the full commission agenda next week that would allow the mayor to work on a letter of intent for a summer collegiate team. The vote came after a presentation Tuesday about why Macon and the historic ball field would be a good fit for an expansion Coastal Plain League team.

The league, established in 1997, currently has 15 franchises across the Southeast. The league is looking to expand to more than 20 teams by the early 2020s, Coastal Plain Commissioner Justin Sellers said.

“We’re not just riding in here to showcase something for a year or two, we want to be successful,” he said. “And we did that in Savannah when the naysayers were worried if minor league ball left and felt we were not comparable and we proved everyone wrong.”

The Macon team would be owned by sports marketing firm SRO Partners and the goal is to have a team in Macon for the 2018 season, said SRO Partners co-owner Steve DeLay, who is also a minority partner with the league’s Savannah Bananas.

Even if the commission approves the resolution again on March 7, the commission would have to give the thumbs up on a lease agreement. The county would also have to agree to pay for some improvements — roughly estimated at $2.5 million — to the Central City Park stadium.

There needs to be improvements to areas such as the press box, locker rooms, dugout, concessions and field. Among the proposed features at the park would be a beer garden, outdoor cabana suites and picnic areas, DeLay said.

“We felt like if we did those key areas we can make it really successful, make it a clean, neat asset for the community and make it a centerpiece for the summer time,” he said. “I don’t believe you need to go out and spend millions and millions ... on a new ballpark.”

There is hesitancy among some commissioners to push ahead with paying for improvements to Luther Williams repairs when there are more pressing needs in the community. The money funding would likely come from the special purpose local option sales tax revenue.

There’s also a riddled history of the success of professional teams in Macon. The Coastal League team would become the latest in a series of teams to play in Macon since an Atlanta Braves affiliate left in 2002. Minor league hockey’s Macon Mayhem began playing in 2015 at the Macon Coliseum.

“We have to be realistic because we’re talking about taxpayers money,” Commissioner Elaine Lucas said.

Those upgrades would be beneficial even if a Coastal Plain League team doesn’t play there, Commissioner Virgil Watkins said.

“Time has proven not only (is Coastal League) still around but they’ve expanded so their system does work,” he said.

The commission will vote on the baseball resolution on Tuesday.

This story was originally published February 28, 2017 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Macon-Bibb baseball proposal sails through committee."