From Staff Reports

 As of the Daily Planet’s 10 a.m. March 27 press deadline, the fate of the Asheville Tourists’ minor league baseball team remained in limbo.

Indeed, the final pieces in the team’s request for solid commitments to a $37.5 funding plan for improvements to McCormick Field — involving decisions by the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority and the State of North Carolina —  still either have not been decided upon, or announced, to the public.

The team, which has played baseball in Asheville since 1909, is threatening to relocate from Asheville if local and state entities fail to commit to the funding by April 1, citing a mandate for certain of the improvements at McCormick Field from Major League Baseball. 

Team officials have said other cities interested in attracting the Tourists include Lexington, Ky., and Frederick, Md.

Meanwhile, Asheville City Council on March 14 voted unanimously to approve about $19 million funding for improvements at McCormick Field, “a move that ended in a round of applause from local residents who attended the meeting,” according to  a report from  Asheville television station WLOS (News 13).

While council’s vote was unanimous, Vice Mayor Sandra Kilgore, often an outlier/contrarian on controversial city issues, was absent from the meeting. 

A week later, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on March 21 voted in favor of giving $5 million toward McCormick Field improvements. Casting the sole dissenting vote on the funding proposal was Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara.

“Tuesday’s (March 21) vote did not include a definitive agreement,” News 13 noted. “Commissioners will meet again to come up with contingencies and have a final vote.”

The team is threatening to relocate from Asheville if a solid $37.5 million funding plan is not in place by April 1. 

The Tourists are a member of the South Atlantic League — and are the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros.

In its March 21 report, News 13 stated the following:

“Some of the upgrades are needed to meet standards set by Major League Baseball.

“The call for upgrades started in 2020 when MLB issued new facility standards requirements for minor league facilities, with a deadline of April 1, 2023. If the standards aren’t met by April 1, MLB has the right to revoke the affiliation license, which would mean Asheville would lose the Tourists.

“Knowing McCormick Field was not going to meet the new standards by the deadline, the team negotiated with MLB to just commit to funding the upgrades by the April 1 deadline.

“The commitment allows for the license to remain over the next two years while upgrades to the facility are made,” News 13 noted.

Further, the TV station stated, “Team owner Brian DeWine was also at Tuesday’s (March 21) meeting. He said the City of Asheville is counting on the state to step in, but there is a backup plan in case they don’t.

“If state funding does not come through, DeWine said the team would go to a facility fee on tickets for the ballpark.

“‘It’s not something we really want to do, but it is a backup plan in case the state money does not come in,’” DeWine was quoted as saying by News 13. “He said it would be a 75-cent increase to tickets that would be there for the lifetime of the park.”

As for Asheville council’s vote to commit funding to the McCormick Field upgrades, the TV station noted that “city staff at a Feb. 14 council work session presented the option of cutting millions from budgets FY 24 – FY 28. For years, city leaders have put off needed investments in the ballpark, choosing to spend (taxpayers’ money) on other priorities.

“If the investments aren’t made, Asheville will lose its affiliation,” Matt Perry, president of National Sports Services, was quoted as saying by News 13.

To finance the spending for the ballpark, a plan eventually was devised to cut funding for certain future city projects, such as road repaving.

In an interview with the Daily Planet on March 25, Kilgore, the lone councilwoman to miss the unanimous vote for funding for improvements at McCorkmick Field, said, “Oh no, I always was ‘on board’ for the Asheville Tourists. Right from the beginning, I would have voted” to support the team. 

Asheville and Buncombe County “are pretty much the ones who utilitize it. I felt it was something for the community. And we had the opportunity to get 40 percent TDA (Tourism Development Authority) funding” on the funding package.

As for the likehood of the Buncombe TDA and the State of North Carolina to commit to a share of funding the improvements at McCorkmick Field, the final hurdle in the process of locking down the team to Asheville, Kilgore told the Daily Planet, “Both of those look very promising.”

“I’ve gotten a very good response from the people in the community — all were positive to keep the baseball team” in Asheville.

Conversely, she said that, in her estimation, “A number of the people who spoke out against the funding for the team were  non-natives to the area, 

“They were unable to understand the connection, especially in the black community, when we had the Blues.” (“Asheville has a long history with baseball,” according to www.wnchistory.org. “Three regional or national Negro League teams —The Royal Giants, Black Tourists, and Blues — played within the city between 1916-1955 before and during the integration of the Major Leagues.)

To that end, Kilgore mused, “I remember when, as a small child, when my father took my brothers to the games... I always wanted my father to take me, too, but he felt that girls,” at that time, were out-of-place at baseball games, so she never attended a game — as a girl — with her father.

As for her support for keeping the Asheville Tourists in Asheville, Kilgore told the Daily Planet, “I felt that this community has very few family activities — and I felt that this (the Tourists’ games) brings families together.”