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Before proceeding on new stadium, Snappers await results of financial studies

BELOIT — To use a baseball metaphor, the Beloit Snappers stadium project has men on base and is looking for a way to drive in the winning run.

The Class A minor league affiliate of the Minnesota Twins has a site for a new stadium, has architectural renderings and has hired two firms to study the feasibility of building a multi-use facility.

“There’s no point in starting to get (building) permits ... if we don’t know how much (money) we can raise,” Snappers General Manager Jeff Vohs said. “This is the next step to know what we could debt service ... and what we could raise privately.”

The Snappers contracted with the Lieb Group of Mequon to study how much revenue a new stadium will generate over a five-year period. The firm has conducted similar studies for the Snappers — in 2002, before a stadium site was found, and in 2006, when a potential site at the Interstate-90/Avalon Road interchange between Beloit and Janesville had been considered. The latest study will focus on a 15-acre site in Beloit’s Gateway Business Park just east of I-90 at Gateway Boulevard and Apex Drive.

The other study, by the Abbey Group of Milwaukee, will determine how much money can be raised from private sector sources.

“I believe the survey that is being taken talks in the range of $10 million from private fundraising,” Snappers Chairman Dennis Conerton said.

Consultants will gather input from 80 people selected by the Snappers’ seven-member Stadium Committee.

“These are people that hopefully have an understanding of the community and region to see if that money (can be raised),” Conerton said. “It’s not asking anyone for money; we’re just looking for feedback.”

Read more in the March 14, 2010 e-edition of The Janesville Messenger, PAGE 7.