St. Paul officials yesterday "endorsed details of a financing proposal for a new regional ballpark" in the city, according to Rochelle Olson of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. The St. Paul City Council "voted unanimously to support a plan to finance half" of the $54M project that would be home to the independent league St. Paul Saints baseball team. The city now "must wait to see whether the state provides" a $27M development grant "for the rest of the project." That decision is "expected in the next couple of months" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/19). In St. Paul, Josie Clarey cites the financing plan as indicating that the city "will put $17 million toward the project, while the Saints will contribute $10 million, adding up to half of the ballpark's $54 million cost." The city applied for $27M "from the state's Department of Employment and Economic Development to cover the other half of the total cost." Half of the city's $17M contribution "will come from bonds to be paid in $625,000 yearly payments for 25 years." City officials said that the other $8.5M "will come from a variety of sources, including reallocation of funds from other projects and Sales Tax and Revitalization program grants." The Saints will contribute $8.5M in bonds "to be paid in yearly rent of $625,000 a year for 25 years." The rest of the team's $10M contribution "will be paid in cash" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 7/19).
