Albuquerque voters want professional baseball back in the city and at a familiar site.
The city’s residents Wednesday approved a bond issue that will provide up to $15 million to renovate the 32-year-old Albuquerque Sports Stadium.
UNM athletic officials and administrators made it clear they hoped to use the Sports Stadium to help advance the University’s baseball program, but voters had other plans.
Approval of the bond issue was essential to a deal that would bring the Calgary Cannons Triple A franchise to Albuquerque. The renovation of the Sports Stadium is expected to be completed in time for the 2003 season.
Albuquerque was left without a pro baseball team this summer when the Albuquerque Dukes franchise was sold last year to a group in Portland, Ore.
“I think it says that we’re ready to be as much as we can be,” Mayor Jim Baca said of the vote. “It’s a very positive thing. I think this shows we’re a can-do city. That we’re going to progress, that we’re going to become a first tier city.”
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Unofficial results from Wednesday’s special election showed voters approving the bond issue and voting overwhelmingly in favor of renovating the Albuquerque Sports Stadium rather than building a new stadium.
With votes from all 119 precincts counted, the bond issue was approved by a margin of 56 percent to 43 percent. The vote totals were 23,888 in favor to 18,457 against the bond issue.
On the second question on the ballot — to renovate the Sports Stadium or to build a new stadium — the voters upped for renovation by a margin of 66 percent to 33 percent. Vote totals there were 27,254 in favor of renovation, with 13,862 voting for a new stadium.
The baseball stadium issue became the biggest topic in New Mexico’s largest city in recent months and created heated discussions among residents and politicians.
Baca favored building a stadium downtown to spur the area’s economy, while City Councilor Greg Payne was among those who wanted to renovate the existing Sports Stadium at the UNM sports complex a couple of miles east of downtown.
Baca said he was not surprised the voters opted for renovation.
“I didn’t harbor much hope that it (a new stadium) would be approved,” Baca said. “But this is a victory because we got baseball back.”
Baca said renovation of the Sports Stadium will begin as soon as possible.
“It’s crucial that we be in the ground by November or December,” the mayor said. “It’s going to require some fast action by the city council because the team will be here in April of 2003.”
The total cost of renovating the Sports Stadium is expected to be between $28.3 and $30 million.
An out-of-state businessman plans to buy the Calgary Cannons and will move the franchise to Albuquerque provided the renovated stadium meets the standards of the Pacific Coast League. The Albuquerque Dukes were members of the PCL and were the top farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
A citizens’ group called the Strike Three Committee asked voters to defeat the bond issue. The group’s leaders contended taxpayer money should not be used to pay for baseball, which is a business that should fund its own stadium.
Renovating the Sports Stadium would cost between $28.3 million and $30 million, officials said. The cost of a new stadium had been placed at between $30 million and $33 million.
