A letter written by the head of the Northwoods League, Dick Radatz Jr., stated that investors for the new team and contractors for the new stadium agreed it "was not a prudent idea" to try to field a team in Waukesha for 2009.
City Administrator Lori Luther said Bauer was unable to raise the money from banks for the team because of the economic crisis.
Consequently, the city will not spend $210,000 to install new lights at the proposed baseball stadium, Luther said.
Bauer had planned to build a stadium that sat about 6,000 people and field a team of non-professional college players competing against similar teams from throughout the Midwest and Canada.
The proposal drew opposition from residents who did not want to see the serene park altered to accommodate a commercial baseball operation.
So despite assurances from supporters of the stadium, the mayor, and the city administrator, it turns out the Northwoods Baseball League was too unstable to support a team here before a spade of dirt could be turned over. Good thing it was stopped before it got started. As much as I enjoy saying, "I told you so," a half-finished stadium is arguably worse than a completed stadium.
Remember the rush to approve the stadium so they could start building right away? The Waukesha Common Council should take the whole process back to square one and do all of the due diligence we were in too much of a hurry to do last year before granting approval to the Northwoods Baseball League or any other group to build an office park/entertainment complex in Frame Park.
