Baseball season is once again upon us, and that means South Bend Cubs fans will soon be buying up tickets.
A stadium expansion to make more of those tickets is taking shape.
We’re just 19 days away from the South Bend Cubs’ Opening Day. The April 9 game against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers isn’t yet sold out but that could change with good weather.
The Cubs have enjoyed more sellouts of Four Winds Field in recent years, so the park’s owner, the city of South Bend, next week will take action to create more seats by adding an upper deck.
On Tuesday the city’s Redevelopment Authority, not the Redevelopment Commission, will meet to issue $45 million in bonds to pay for the expansion. The city will repay the bonds with income tax paid by people who work in and around the stadium.
It won’t require a tax increase. The city lobbied the Indiana General Assembly last year to change the law to let it capture more of that income tax money for such projects, instead of sending it downstate.
Caleb Bauer, the city’s community investment executive director, says the city hopes to have the upper deck ready for next season’s Opening Day.
"The bottom line is it doesn't cost taxpayers anything (more)," Bauer said. "We're looking forward to it. It's an exciting project."
