Homeless in Arizona

I suspect this is another one of those programs where the taxpayers of Phoenix will get screwed and end up paying for ASU's bills.

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Phoenix, ASU in talks for ballpark

By Dustin Gardiner The Republic | azcentral.com Fri Nov 9, 2012 10:23 PM

A week after a deal to share a new Chicago Cubs stadium in Mesa fell apart, Arizona State University is in negotiations to potentially move its baseball program to Phoenix Municipal Stadium, city officials confirmed Friday.

The stadium, near Papago Park in east Phoenix, has been viewed as a logical alternative for ASU. It is currently the spring-training home of the Oakland Athletics, but Mesa and the A’s expect to wrap up a deal soon that would move the team to Hohokam Stadium beginning with the 2015 season.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said ASU President Michael Crow called him shortly after talks with the Cubs came to a halt last week, asking if Phoenix would be interested in housing the team. Negotiations between ASU officials and city management soon started.

“Phoenix has a long-standing partnership and relationship with Arizona State University,” Stanton said on Friday. “If Phoenix Municipal is the right location ... we’re happy to partner with them.”

ASU is trying to find a new baseball venue to replace Packard Stadium. The venerated facility in north Tempe needs more than $20 million in renovations, and ASU wants to redevelop the land, at the corner of Rural Road and Rio Salado Parkway, to raise money to renovate nearby Sun Devil Stadium, the university’s football venue.

The negotiations are in the early stages, and no agreements have been signed, according to city officials.

It’s unclear what impact, if any, the move could have on the A’s. A representative for the team could not be reached for comment.

ASU officials had no comment Friday.

Negotiations between ASU and the Cubs had become acrimonious over an extremely detailed facilities-use agreement. ASU abandoned the agreement, and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith told both sides last week that the city would suspend its mediation of the deal because a final agreement seemed impossible.

That’s when Phoenix’s aging stadium started looking like a clear alternative.

Phoenix Councilman Sal DiCiccio, whose district encompasses the stadium, said its proximity to ASU’s Tempe campus is ideal and would be a financial win for both the city and university. He said once the A’s leave, as he expects, Phoenix would be left with a mostly empty stadium.

“It takes an expense off our books and adds an incredible asset to that area,” DiCiccio said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to end up striking a deal.”

Phoenix Municipal opened in 1964 and lacks the amenities of many of other stadiums in the Cactus League. Almost a year ago, the A’s announced they had begun exclusive negotiations with Mesa to move to Hohokam Stadium, which is now occupied by the Cubs.

The Cubs are scheduled to use Hohokam through 2013 and move to Mesa’s Riverview area in 2014. The A’s are committed to staying in Phoenix through 2014.

Stanton said the A’s wanted significant improvements to stay at Phoenix Municipal. He said the city determined, in talks before he took office, that ultimately it could meet some of the team’s requests “but not all of them.”

Now, Stanton is optimistic that ASU will find a permanent home in Phoenix Municipal, which he called a “classic” stadium in a prized location.

“In my opinion, the more we can partner with higher education overall, the better off we will be,” he said. “Their success is our success.”

Republic reporters Gary Nelson and Jeff Metcalfe contributed to this article.