An expanded media box at Coates Stadium is in sight for the Baycats.
Council has passed a motion that city staff assist Barrie Baycats Baseball Club with the planning for, and investigation of, funding opportunities, such as grants and sponsorships, for the expansion of the Baycats press box and mezzanine at Coates Stadium, and report back to the city’s finance and corporate services committee.
The motion passed without discussion Monday night.
At this point, Baycats officials are planning to go ahead with only a larger press box for local and visiting media, costing between $100,000 and $125,000. Adding a mezzanine for fans and corporate gatherings, plus the press box expansion, carried an estimated $400,000 price tag.
David Mills, president of the local Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) team, has said he expects to raise outside funding for the project, but that the city should also contribute financially.
Mills has said Coates Stadium, located in Midhurst at the Barrie Community Sports Complex, is a city facility built about 20 years ago with donations and materials supplied at cost.
The city has spent some money on the baseball stadium since it was built, however, including about $30,000 for upgrading batting equipment, exterior building lights, rubber flooring, and stadium field lighting.
The Baycats, six-time defending IBL champions, didn’t play in 2020 because of the pandemic, and the league cancelled its schedule, but there are plans to begin the 2021 season June 1.
The IBL is planning for a 36-game schedule — 18 at home, 18 away.
