Waukesha Northwoods Ballpark Plan Strikes Out

WAUKESHA, WI — After pushback about a plan to finance a Northwoods League minor-league baseball park by extending one of the city's existing Tax Incremental Financing Districts, city officials say plans to construct a new facility at Mindiola Park do not have the support they need to move forward.

As a result, officials say, plans for a $12.8 million, 2,500-seat ballpark have struck out.

"At this point, there is no intention of attempting to develop a regional sports facility in Waukesha," City Administrator Kevin Lahner said in a Feb. 26 press release announcing the cancellation of public hearings on the plan, cited in a JSOnline report.

According to a report in Ballpark Digest, Waukesha had been working with Big Top Waukesha on the project proposed for Mindolia Park.

According to a Journal Sentinel report from Aug. 2018, the City of Waukesha proposed funding up to $11.5 million to build the complex, with Big Top chipping in $500,000.

A majority of the city funding would have come through extending the boundaries of TIF District 14. The TIF district would have been an extension of one that began with the construction of the Shoppes at Fox River.

Extending the TIF district would have needed to go before the five-seat Joint Review Board for approval. Ballpark Digest reported that two organizations on that board - The Waukesha School District and Waukesha County - were not in favor of extending the TIF district.

Earlier in 2018, Big Top drew heavy criticism from local activists after attempting to place the stadium at Frame Park.

"A baseball stadium can be built anywhere in the City of Waukesha on over 300 acres of public park land. However, this for-profit business wants it on the best real estate with the highest value in the city of Waukesha. Why not, they are renters," Save Frame Park stated online.