Support, financing questions greet idea of baseball stadium in Leland

Should Southeastern North Carolina play ball with the Texas Rangers?

That question is on the lips of many Wilmington-area residents after it became public that officials with Leland and Brunswick County have been in talks with the owners of the major-league baseball team and a developer about building a ballpark and entertainment complex along U.S. 17 near Brunswick Forest.

"Let's go! This is great news! The kids will absolutely love this," stated one comment on the StarNews Facebook post announcing the proposed project. Other comments, most of which were positive toward the proposal, said anything built there would be better than another apartment complex or dollar store.

Several social media comments also raised the question of how a new stadium would be financed.

If history is any guide, building such a sports and entertainment complex won't be a simple private sector enterprise. From the Rangers' $1.1 billion home park in Arlington, Texas, which opened in 2020 and replaced an adjacent ballpark that was 25 years old, to the three-year-old, $38 million Fayetteville Woodpeckers stadium closer to home, the taxpayer has been asked to foot a lot of the bill on most new professional sports projects.

Sometimes that comes in the form of floating bonds or a sales tax increase, in other cases a special added tax on hotel and restaurant bills. Often a combination of financing tools, including a special taxing district that incorporates areas likely to benefit from the new development, also is floated.

Whether public money should be used to build a minor-league baseball to the Port City for decades. Most recently, a referendum to spend $37 million to build a downtown ballpark for a minor-league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves struck out with Wilmington residents in 2012. Paying for the bonds would have required a 2.5-cent increase in the property tax rate per $100 of value, or $50 a year for a $200,000 home.

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But pure public endeavors also have sometimes had trouble winning taxpayer support in the Cape Fear region. While bond issues to support parks and schools have generally succeeded in the tri-county area, New Hanover County voters in November rejected a proposed 1/4-cent sales tax increase to support public transportation and additional bike and pedestrian infrastructure − despite numerous polls showing traffic woes leading or near the top of resident concerns.

"People are careful with their dollars, and rightfully so," said state Rep. Deb Butler, D-Wilmington. "But they also love their amenities and love their sporting opportunities, so we'll see."

Different time, different political climate

Butler represents downtown Wilmington and a big chunk of central New Hanover County in the N.C. General Assembly. But up until a few years ago her district also included much of northern Brunswick County, including Leland and Belville.

On Thursday, Butler said she wasn't aware of the details of the proposed Leland stadium project, but found the idea of minor-league baseball coming to the Cape Fear region intriguing. She also said she was sure Leland and Brunswick County officials would take a careful look at any proposal to make sure it was fair to all parties.

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"We always want to see a diversity of community recreational possibilities, and so it would be wonderful to see a successful baseball team here," she said. "But the last thing we want to do it take on a project like that and see it fail."

Those fears dominated residents' concerns a decade ago, when Wilmington's dalliance with the Braves failed at the ballot box.

Butler, however, said that was a different time in a different political and economic climate. Growth also has changed the region's look and footprint, with the population of New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties jumping from roughly 363,000 in 2010 to an estimated 441,000 this year. Leland has grown even faster, jumping from 13,900 residents in 2010 to nearly 28,000 this year, and many of those new residents might be in favor of adding minor-league baseball to the region's recreational options.

'Demanding a vote'

Leading the charge against Wilmington's proposed minor-league stadium was Harper Peterson, a former Port City mayor and state senator representing New Hanover County.

Peterson said he's not necessarily against publicly supported sports projects, but the numbers have to add up and be good for the taxpayer − not just the baseball team's owners.

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He said voters should carefully review any financing proposal that's put out there, ask questions, and most importantly have the right to vote on any public expenditures that are proposed.

"Then if the public approves it, they've had their say," Peterson said. "But they need to be aware of the history of many of these public-private partnerships. That's why demanding a vote is so important."

Leland and Brunswick officials have yet to say how any entertainment project would be funded or who would be responsible for what.

"We look forward to learning more about their interest and developing a potential partnership in the coming months," the town stated in a release, adding that officials plan a press conference with REV Entertainment - developer of the proposed entertainment complex − and the Rangers in coming weeks.

Could baseball bridge the river?

With the N.C. General Assembly unlikely to provide state funds directly for a local stadium − although there could be economic incentive programs part of the project could qualify for, Butler noted − it will likely be up to local residents to come up with a funding package to support construction of a new stadium.

But if Brunswick County did float some kind of countywide referendum, how much support could the Leland stadium proposal gather from residents of Sunset Beach or Calabash 43 miles away? The minor-league Myrtle Beach Pelicans are just a 26-mile drive down U.S. 17 for those baseball fans.

So would seeking support from New Hanover and Pender county residents, who would likely be a large chunk of the fans at a new stadium, be more realistic?

Maybe. But collecting money in one jurisdiction and spending it in another is sure to ruffle some feathers. Then there's the political brinkmanship that's bound to take place as officials weigh the cost to the public purse, as well as voter sentiment, on any kind of public-private partnership with the Rangers.

Relations between some New Hanover and Brunswick officials also remain frosty over repeated failures to agree on a route and financing package for a new crossing of the Cape Fear River between Leland and Wilmington. At least three proposals have come and gone since 2000, with N.C. Department of Transportation officials repeatedly stressing that the 54-year-old bridge only has a limited life in its steel girders left.

Still, officials say the idea might be one worth kicking around.

"If it makes sense, it makes sense," Peterson said. "But the devil is in the details."

Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Leland baseball stadium proposal greeted with cheers and questions