Will Wolff Stadium go away?
That question came up early on during a second public input session Thursday evening on how the city should redevelop the ballpark and surrounding property when the Missions move downtown in 2029.
As dozens of people pored over three options — “framework” maps they were given with a blank grid over the existing stadium — one area resident asked if it was already decided that the ballpark is not included in future plans.
“There are no preconceived notions,” Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, director of the economic development department, who is the city’s staff lead on the project to redevelop the city-owned Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium property.
“One of the opportunities is how do we focus on the best, highest-use, revenue-generating and all of that. So what that looks like, we don’t know.”
The new downtown ballpark isn’t expected to be complete until 2029, and any turning of dirt at the 43-acre Wolff Stadium and surrounding property would not begin until then.
But they want to be ready with a master plan when it’s time to seek funding through the 2027 bond process, Hicks-Sorensen said. District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan has also said funding for the project could come from the 2027 bond.
Work on the planned Gomez Park, a $7 million project in the 2022 bond that is located adjacent to the stadium, is set to start this fall.
In addition to the public input the city is gathering for the Wolff redevelopment plan, several consultant groups are working on a financial analysis and environmental impact assessments, all of which Hicks-Sorensen said will feed into a master plan.
There are meetings scheduled as well with area neighborhood association groups and other local stakeholders, she said.
Whether or not Wolff Stadium remains as a ballfield for the community is an open question.
“They are running some different scenarios,” Hicks-Sorensen said. “A lot of it is dependent on the feedback we get here. If the community is like, we don’t want the stadium there, we want a grocery store instead, you know, that’s where these sessions are really driving the work that the team is doing.”
The city is also looking at what other communities across the county have done with their old stadiums, including Salt Lake City, where the ballpark is being repurposed and mixed-use development built around it.
The proposed master plan is expected to be presented to City Council sometime this fall.
The 6,200-seat Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium that opened in 1994 is considered no longer up to Major League Baseball standards despite multiple upgrades. The Southwest Side stadium was named for former mayor and county judge, Nelson W. Wolff, in 1995.
A third input session on the proposed redevelopment is scheduled for Sept. 12, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Cuellar Community Center, 5626 San Fernando St.
The city is also gathering input via an online community survey.
