"Key figures in the effort to get a new baseball stadium in
Detroit are working on plans for financing that include public
ownership." The plans might include a Wayne County, MI, tax on
hotels, restaurant meals and rental cars. The tax is allowed
under law, but would require approval by county voters. The
deadline has passed to put measures on the November 8 ballot, and
the next scheduled countywide election is November, 1996. Lisa
Ilitch Murray, spokesperson for the Build the Ballpark office,
said it does not matter to the Ilitch family who owns the
stadium. Tigers owner Mike Ilitch had offered to finance the
$175M construction of a stadium -- if the state put up as much as
$200M to buy land, demolish buildings and reconfigure roads. But
state bills to provide state funding "stalled ... after critics
said the state shouldn't subsidize a stadium for a wealthy
owner." Lawmakers are expected to consider a stadium financing
plan between the November 8 election and the end of the year
(Tina Lam, DETROIT FREE PRESS, 9/27).
STRIKE HURTS EFFORTS? An editorial in CRAIN'S DETROIT
BUSINESS notes that the strike "isn't a good sign" for Ilitch's
proposed stadium (9/19-26).
