Old Orchard Beach has the opportunity to do something special in regards to its recently renovated and historic ballpark: Bring a New England Collegiate Baseball League team to the town.
On Wednesday, town councilors had a two-hour workshop with officials of the Lowell Americans, an NECBL team from Massachusetts.
The officials put forth a plan to relocate the Lowell team to Old Orchard Beach for next spring.
This is an opportunity the town cannot pass up, and it appears to be a no-brainer.
Yes, some town officials were upset that they didn’t know of a proposal of relocation to Old Orchard Beach until Wednesday, but all appeared to be interested in bringing a team to the area.
Old Orchard Beach is a tourist destination for thousands of travelers in the summer time. The Ballpark, billed as an attraction of historic beauty, is also a destination for not only those tourists, but for locals as well. Most of these folks remember having the semi-professional Maine Guides playing at The Ballpark, and we feel these fans would be pleased to once again have a team for which they can root as their own.
Stories of drawing large crowds and good baseball to The Ballpark are plenty, such as the No. 1 ranked Miami Hurricanes playing No. 20 University of Maine team a handful of times in the 1980s. Those games filled the park to more than its stated capacity of 1,000 fans.
While the NECBL isn’t at the level of a semi-professional team, it still draws numerous top baseball prospects into the 12-team league and is a high level of baseball.
The Lowell Americans proved this summer that baseball could thrive in Old Orchard Beach when it played a home-away-from-home game against NECBL team the Sanford Mainers, a staple of NECBL baseball in York County for the past 10 years. That game drew 1,000 fans.
A team in Old Orchard Beach would also create a natural rivalry with the Sanford Mainers since only 30 miles would separate the teams. Both towns would benefit from the rivalry, as would York County, as fans would pack both ballparks to see those games.
Money-wise, it also makes sense to have a team in Old Orchard Beach. The team would pay the town a $10,000 usage fee for the park, which would be the highest of any town within the NECBL. Some of the NECBL towns, such as Holyoke, pay management to have the team in town.
On top of the $10,000 usage fee, the current proposal in front of the OOB Town Council states that the town would receive 75 percent of all revenue from food and beverage concessions, while the final 25 percent goes to the team to help offset operating costs. The team has also agreed, under the proposal, to donate kitchen appliances for use in the concession stands, such as a cooktop, freezer, large popcorn maker and an oven.
Old Orchard Beach town councilors have two weeks to make a decision, and we encourage the board to accept this beneficial proposal.
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