College Station discontinues plans for Texas Independence Ballpark
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The College Station City Council announced Thursday night that the Texas Independence Ballpark plans for Midtown in College Station have been discontinued.
This is following a report from city staff that the park contains insufficient soil that would cost the city a minimum of $10 million to fix. Options presented to staff included moving forward with the park and spending the additional cash, or moving away from that park with the baseball field.
This project broke ground in November 2022, with a budget of $23 million.
Just a few short weeks later, city staff say an unprecedented amount of rain caused the soil to change in January and February. The decision to pause construction to reevaluate the soil and do additional testing was made in April.
When city staff made the decision to pause the project for further soil testing, $5 million of the budget had already been spent. Discussions included the existing infrastructure at the park and what else it could be used for. There is currently a bathroom and sewer, water and electrical capabilities at the park.
With the new information, the council told staff to move away from plans and bring residents in to discuss what kind of park they would like to see in that area.
Council members also expressed interest in moving the ballpark project to an alternative location. City staff say lighting that was purchased for the parking lot of the baseball fields can be used elsewhere.
Staff will now be going back to the drawing board.
