There may be a path forward to bringing Wilmington’s Baynard Stadium a much-needed facelift - a path that could include Salesianum School.
Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki announced Thursday that a public/private partnership is the best option for fixing up Baynard Stadium and handling future maintenance.
An 11-member working group appointed by Purzycki considered five options over the last few months – and presented its recommendations to Purzycki after a town hall discussion last month. The working group’s recommendation was for a public/private partnership to fund Baynard’s improvements.
The city is now calling for letters of interest over the next 14 days from any entity with the financial ability to undertake a large-scale project like this. Those interested have until close of business June 21st to submit a letter.
If there are multiple, legitimate inquiries – then the city will establish a formal request for proposals process to entertain all submissions.
The Salesianum School’s President Brendan Kennealy says it plans on submitting a letter of interest. However, he's not sure if its offer this time will match the scale of last year's proposal.
Sallies offered a $20 million investment plan in exchange for a 50-year lease on the field last year – which it ultimately pulled after concerns regarding the field’s access to inner-city group surfaced.
“In this little corner of the city, we thought that we could have a real positive impact, which is what we tried to do with our original proposal in working with the city the last time," Kennealy said.
Kennealy emphasized Salesianum’s commitment to ensuring access to such groups then, and says that commitment remains going forward.
“That would be an essential component for us - that’s what we want," Kennealy said.
"We very much see this as something that is an under-utilized asset in the city. And we believed before and we believe now that we’re in a good position to make this an asset within the city that could be utilized constantly by city residents and lots of others.”
