Beloit is looking at allocating $100,000 toward minor improvements to Pohlman Field, the home of the Beloit Snappers (Low Class A; Midwest League), but the long-term future of baseball in southern Wisconsin remains fuzzy.
The proposal: The city will spend $80,000 on new outfield turf and another $20,000 on new concrete and asphalt in the concourse. That addresses some basic concerns raised by the Oakland A’s, the Snappers’ new parent, but it doesn’t address the issue that Pohlman Field in its present condition doesn’t meet MiLB standards: there are no indoor batting cages, for instance. The city and the Snappers are well aware of these issues, but there doesn’t appear to be any sort of solution. It would take $15 million or more to build a very basic ballpark,
“The goal is to keep professional baseball here,” said city manager Gary Arft. “That’s the second problem. What do you do to keep professional baseball? Right now we’ve got to get this thing upgraded with these minimum maintenance projects.”
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