Thursday night the Lubbock City Council voted to indefinitely postpone discussions regarding a new sports facility that would bring Minor League Baseball back to the Hub City.
David Nelson, a representative of Southpaw, the group that wants to build the $39 million state of the art, multi-use facility, said the facility would bring Lubbock into the 21st century.
“The combined effect of having that new business,” Nelson said. “Creating new jobs. Building a $39 million stadium has a tremendous economic benefit to the city of Lubbock. A tremendous opportunity to bring Lubbock into frankly the 21st century and provide a quality of life for the citizens of Lubbock and actually compliment our programs at Texas Tech and LCU.”
The group is courting the San Antonio Missions, the San Diego Padres Double A affiliate. The Missions are looking for a new home. Nelson said they are also considering moving to Amarillo and Wichita, Kansas.
Nelson said they would like to secure a team, build a facility and have a team on the field by January 2019. He admitted it was an ‘aggressive plan’ and that is what worries City Councilwoman Karen Gibson.
“Well a lot of it is they are pushing through so fast,” Gibson said. “That’s the first red flag. I am not saying it is a bad project at all, I’m just certainly not, I’m not in any way ready to make any kind of decision on it whatsoever.”
The project, as proposed by Nelson, would be funded by a 2% increase in the hotel-motel tax. Rob Meyer, owner of the Arbor hotels, shared his frustration with the council over the plan.
