Rehab Cashman Field or watch 51s flee to Summerlin

We know that two first-class indoor arenas will be built. At least one will conform to National Hockey League standards, in hopes of one day luring a National Basketball Association franchise as well.

One arena will be a $400 million private capital venture that involves MGM casino moguls and their financial statements. The other, on the former Wet ‘n Wild site, also involves private financing. That kind of development is a no-brainer.

We also know that a new football stadium to replace the ancient Sam Boyd Stadium was recently tabled due to cost. The city is in no mood to finance a new gridiron.

Then there’s the Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League, a minor-league baseball team that needs a place to call home, or rather a place that is anything but the present Cashman Field, which has become an embarrassment to organized baseball. After all, this is the glitziest city in America — a city often referred to as the entertainment capital of the world. Cashman Field is the second-oldest ballpark in the PCL, built in 1982. It’s also the most obsolete.

And then there’s the baseball stadium of the future, to replace Cashman Field. The question is — where will it be? The next question is — who will pay for it?

In the alternative, it can either stay where it is, in the form of a drastically refurbished Cashman Field, or it can become one of the most modern baseball parks in America if it’s built within the 200 acres now being planned as phase two of Downtown Summerlin.

Therein lies a more immediate conundrum. Half of the 51s are owned by the The Howard Hughes Corp., developer of Downtown Summerlin, and the other half by a consortium of Las Vegas businessmen who are betting that a new baseball stadium will rise in Summerlin. Hughes has already said it would donate the property, which it values at $40 million. The ballpark would be built in close proximity to Red Rock Resort.

So now comes the $64 question. Who will pay for constructing the $64 million stadium? The city has already let it be known that it’s looking to redevelop the 57 acres at Cashman Center, with or without a refurbished ballpark.

City officials are asking the public for answers to the kind of redevelopment that would best serve the Las Vegas downtown area. Deputy City Manager Scott Adams is heading up that task.

At a recent program conducted by the Sun City Summerlin Residents’ Forum, Adams’ boss, City Manager Betsy Fretwell, made it clear the city is quite serious in its quest to upgrade Cashman Center. Increased tax and other economic benefits are high among the priority reasons. And the 51s’ lease for the stadium, held by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which runs through 2022, could become immediate history under the right conditions.

Among other officials who attended the Sun City program, Mayor Pro Tem and Ward 4 City Councilman Stavros Anthony confirmed that “The city is seriously looking at the Cashman site for redevelopment. The city owns the land, and we have put out those requests for development ideas. That would be a big part of plans to redevelop downtown.”

Cashman Field was built by the city for $24 million 32 years ago. But the city disclaims responsibility for financing a stadium in Downtown Summerlin as a replacement because the proposed site is just beyond the city line, in unincorporated Clark County.

Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown, who also addressed the Sun City audience, issued a caveat before he spoke. That’s because Brown, in addition to being an elected official, is also an employee of the 51s, in charge of team business development.

“For the last 10 years, there has been an ongoing effort to facilitate the stadium,” Brown said. “It’s now down to two choices. Rehabilitate Cashman Field, or the 51s will likely move to Downtown Summerlin.”

Herb Jaffe was an op-ed columnist and investigative reporter for most of his 39 years at the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. His most recent novel, “Double Play,” is now available. Contact him at hjaffe@cox.net.