OMAHA ‹ An NCAA official said Wednesday that Omaha does not have to build a new stadium in order to keep hosting the College World Series, despite what city leaders have said repeatedly in pushing for a downtown ballpark.
"We haven't dictated any specific plan to the city," NCAA spokesman Bob Williams said.
Mayor Mike Fahey continues to push his downtown proposal and plans to meet this week with members of the divided city council, which must approve various aspects of the plan for the project to move forward.
Councilman Garry Gernandt, whose district includes Rosenblatt Stadium, said the vote would be 4-3 against Fahey's plan if a vote were held today.
Jack Diesing, who heads the CWS' local organizing group, said he senses public support building for a downtown stadium, and he's not concerned about where the council stands now.
"We're a long way from any votes being taken," he said.
The Division I baseball championship has been held in Omaha every year since 1950 at Rosenblatt, which sits on a south Omaha hilltop a few blocks from the Missouri River. Fahey began serious talks last fall about a new stadium to replace 60-year-old Rosenblatt.
The issue has divided the city. Some residents see a new 24,000-seat stadium as the impetus for economic development in the north downtown area. Some argue against the $140 million project because of doubts about Fahey's financing plan at a time the city must deal with underfunded police and fire pensions and a looming $1.5 billion sewer project.
Backers of a downtown ballpark warn the CWS will leave Omaha if a new stadium isn't built, though no other city is known to have shown serious interest in hosting the event.
Gernandt, who backs a less-expensive Rosenblatt renovation, said a Feb. 12 letter from the NCAA's Dennis Poppe to the president of the CWS' local organizing group shows the NCAA is neutral on the stadium issue.
Poppe, the managing director of football and baseball, wrote to Jack Diesing Jr. that the NCAA does not have a preference for a specific proposal, "whether it involves construction of a new venue or an extensive renovation of Rosenblatt Stadium."
Diesing dismissed the significance of the letter, saying it was sent two weeks before city leaders made their downtown stadium pitch to the NCAA.
Fahey spokesman Joe Gudenrath said the NCAA is on board with the stadium plan.
"The NCAA encouraged us to move forward," he said.
Said Williams: "The NCAA never pointed the city toward anything."
Williams said the NCAA wanted Omaha to present one plan, whether it be for a new stadium or a Rosenblatt renovation.
If it turns out a downtown stadium can't garner enough community support, Williams said, the NCAA would still be willing to listen to a proposal that would include a Rosenblatt renovation.
Fahey and his stadium oversight committee are hopeful they can reach an agreement-in-principle with the NCAA for a 20- to 25-year contract by April 30. Williams said a long-term contract would be in order if the city built a stadium.
If a new stadium were not built, Poppe wrote Feb. 12, "the NCAA would consider a traditional hosting term of five or fewer years following the current agreement's conclusion in 2010."
Gudenrath said the mayor's office will continue briefing the council in hopes of securing the required four votes to keep the project moving ahead.
"Voting down some aspects would be a blow to the proposal," Gudenrath said, "and would jeopardize our ability to host the College World Series."
Gernandt said if the downtown stadium proposal fails, it will not be because of the city council.
"It will be because the mayor's plan was flawed," he said.
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