Biloxi stadium budget concerns leave door open for Stars' return to Huntsville in 2015

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – The Southern League playoffs in September might not be the final chapter in the Huntsville Stars' history after all.

The Stars have been sold and a move to Biloxi, Miss., for the 2015 season has been approved by the Southern League.

However, Biloxi city officials learned Wednesday that the lowest contractor bid for a new stadium was at $32.27 million, some $5 million more than the initial budget. Though land has been cleared for a new ballpark adjacent to the Beau Rivage Casino, construction has not begun.

It is unlikely but a "possibility" that the team might play in Huntsville in 2015, team owner Ken Young told AL.com.

The Stars have one year remaining on their lease with the city of Huntsville for the use of Joe Davis. City officials are aware that what once appeared to be an advantage for the city to at least receive some financial restitution for the Stars' departure might now become a disadvantage in having to continue the operation of a stadium and make appropriate investments to continue play, hosting a team in a second "lame-duck" season.

The departure of the current franchise is imminent, whether following the 2014 playoffs (the Stars won the first-half Southern League North title to earn a berth in postseason) or after 2015.

As has been frequently reported, local leaders remain confident another franchise can be obtained within two or three years, likely to play in a downtown stadium and still playing in the Class AA Southern League.

Mayor Tommy Battle has met with Pat O'Connor, president of Minor League Baseball, and the mayor said any serious potential owners of a future Huntsville team are being directed to deal with O'Connor's office.

The construction budget figures provided to Biloxi officials left Mayor A.J. Holloway "disappointed," according to Biloxi TV station WLOX.

"We're going to look at it, see what we can cut and what we can't cut, and we might have to go through the process again," Holloway said.

"We don't know what to think right now. It's pretty much out of our budget," Holloway said.

"We're committed to building a baseball stadium in Biloxi, and regardless of the outcome today, we'll find a way to make it work and we'll find the resources and we'll be playing baseball next year," Councilman Kenny Glavan told WLOX.

Exactly where the team will be playing is the question.

"We'll just have to wait for the construction schedule," said Buck Rogers, the Stars' general manager, who has been hired in the same capacity at Biloxi. Rogers, who is dividing his time between Huntsville and Biloxi, said it would be premature to speculate on scheduling for next year.

If a stadium is not completed, the city of Biloxi must pay a $10,000 fine for every game missed.

Construction on minor league stadiums can often be completed in less than a year, but Biloxi's construction could easily be compromised by the weather, as it's frequently in the path of violent late-summer and early-fall storms.

It would not be unprecedented for a team to open the season with a protracted road trip.

The Sacramento River Cats, a Class AAA affiliate of the Oakland A's, played nearly 40 consecutive road games, not playing at home until mid-May, because of delays in construction on a new stadium there. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees of the Class AAA International League, played every game on the road in 2012 because of stadium construction.

The initial budget for the Biloxi stadium, including the infrastructure work that has already begun, was $36 million. It was being financed by a $21 million bond project by the city, which was initially met with resistance by some community leaders, and $15 million from the state's settlement with BP after the Deepwater Horizon accident, as earmarked for the construction from Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant.

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