| TRAFICANT, James A., Jr., |
February 17, 1998
Traficant wants to meet with the officials regardless of whether or not the governments of Niles and Howland Township agree to a February 19th deadline to sign a non-binding memorandum of intent to build a stadium. The memorandum has to be signed by this Thursday according to guidelines established by professional baseball.
"Regardless of whether or not local officials agree to sign the memorandum, there is a lot of work that needs to be done on this project," said Traficant. "No matter what happens on Thursday, it would be prudent for all the parties involved to sit down and discuss all of our options." Traficant sent invitation letters today to Niles Mayor Ralph A. Infante (D), Niles City Council members and the Howland Township Trustees.
Traficant also plans to meet next week with local community leaders to discuss the formation of a special committee to identify alternative revenue sources for the stadium project. The meeting will be held Monday, February 23rd at 12 noon at Alberini's in Niles.
The proposed stadium would be a multi-use facility located near Eastwood Mall. The facility would be the new home to the Class A minor league baseball team, the Erie (PA) Sea Wolves. The team, which belongs to the New York-Penn League, would begin playing in the new facility in 1999. The facility would also host games for Youngstown State University's baseball team, as well as high school baseball play-off games. Other uses include concerts, shows and exhibits. For the past year, Traficant has been working with the team owner and local officials to put together a viable financial package.
2009