The Fort Worth Cats were supposed to be playing ball at LaGrave soon. What happened?
After the Tarrant Regional Water District canceled the latest effort to breathe new life into LaGrave Field, it is unclear what will happen to the deteriorating stadium and if the Fort Worth Cats will ever return.
The district’s board of director’s in May 2019 approved a 10-year agreement with the Save LaGrave Foundation to rehab the stadium and bring minor league baseball back to the city. But in September the board unanimously voted to end the agreement and request new proposals on the advice of legal counsel, which said Save LaGrave had not met the requirements of the agreement by an August deadline.
Though the latest plan to save the field north of downtown has ended, Jim Lane, a water district board member and former Fort Worth councilman who has championed LaGrave, remains adamant baseball will return to the North Side.
“I don’t think there’s any question about that,” Lane said. “It’s just a question of who.”
Last year Scott Berry, a Decatur lawyer and president of Save LaGrave Foundation, was optimistic about the deal. Though the foundation needed at least $3.5 million to repair the abandoned stadium, he said he was confident donors would come through and work would begin in time to have baseball in the park as early as this year.
Berry did not return a call for comment.
Under the agreement signed in May 2019, the foundation should have spent at least $1.5 million on capital improvements within 18 months. The foundation then had to spend an additional $1.5 million over the following 18 months to bring the 4,100-seat stadium back to life. Save LaGrave was also to provide the water district with an upfront 10-year rent payment of $1.75 million.
During the September board meeting, Lee Christie, the district’s attorney, told the board that Save LaGrave had not met criteria set out in the agreement, but did not provide details.
It’s unclear if any repairs were made or if the district received any payments. It appears little to no work was completed on the graffiti-stained stadium.
The Star-Telegram requested to speak with water district officials about the status of LaGrave, and asked for information about how much was paid to the district in rent and whether any repairs were made. A spokesperson for the district said it would not comment beyond a statement released last month.
That four-sentence statement did not provide details about the condition of LaGrave or any work that might have taken place.
“It was determined the previous tenant did not meet the terms of the lease agreement for LaGrave Field and an adjacent parking lot, despite previous extensions,” the statement read. “Save LaGrave will be allowed to submit a new proposal.”
The water district has owned LaGrave field since July 2018. That’s when it agreed to swap 15.3 acres appraised at $8.39 million along the West Fork of the Trinity River for 8.1 acres that includes LaGrave Field and a small adjacent tract that is appraised at $7 million.
The land swap with Houston-based Panther Acquisition Partners brought new promises that minor league baseball, in the form of a new Fort Worth Cats team, would return to Fort Worth.
Minor league baseball has enjoyed some success in Fort Worth, though not recently. It initially ran from 1888 to 1964 and then again from 2002 to 2014. LaGrave, just north of downtown off Main Street, was built in 1926 and later demolished. A new LaGrave was built in 2002 around the original base paths.
The stadium is a little more than a shell. Though the bleachers still stand, weeds are growing in some of the aisles and graffiti marks almost all of the walls. Lane said his understanding is the bones of the building are still good, though he is worried about its long-term viability. Water district staff should be assessing whether or not any preservation work is needed, he said.
Though the water district wouldn’t say if new proposals had been submitted, Lane said a few interested people have approached him.
Lane said he believed Berry and the Save LaGrave Foundation “tried very hard” to gather finances and repair the stadium, but the coronavirus outbreak and other circumstances got in the way. He was enthusiastic during a recent call and said he thinks Fort Worth, and particularly North Side residents, would support a baseball team or a larger program that included soccer.
“This is our asset and we want to protect it,” Lane said. “It’s going to take someone who can do it right.”
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
