pueblo, colorado may build new baseball stadium

Nearly two years ago, voters in Pueblo County, Colorado gave their approval to a ballot proposal that would use some $8 million in local tax revenue for the construction of a youth sports facility.
Now, both county and City of Pueblo officials are saying that money could be used to build a baseball stadium housing a Minor League Baseball team, perhaps in downtown Pueblo.

According to sources, the facility could cost anywhere between $12 million and $15 million to build and would be designed to additionally host football and soccer games, as well as outdoor music concerts.

The proposed 6,500-seat stadium project would also include a video board and five luxury suites, along with parking spaces for 500 vehicles.

Local enthusiasm for the stadium has been partly fueled by the results of a study undertaken by the Phoenix-based municipal finance consulting team TL Hocking & Associates, which said that Pueblo is large enough to support such a facility, noting that it could attract up to 3,000 people per game.

Because the 2016 vote was county-wide, members of the Pueblo County Commission, with expected input from the City of Pueblo, will ultimately decide on whether the stadium project will be pursued and when.

Two members of that commission, Terry Hart and Sal Pace, recently issued a statement indicating that once a financial plan for building a stadium is completed, public input will be solicited on the project.

By Garry Boulard