Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993 TAG: 9312230032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Bucs owner Kelvin Bowles said Wednesday he has reached a tentative agreement to sell the team to an out-of-town buyer and expects to sign a contract soon.
That prospect won't sit well with Roanoke businessman Dale Wilkinson, who heads the local group.
"We would like to see the ownership of this team remain local," he said. "It's a key part of the Roanoke Valley, and we do not want to see the ownership move out of town.
"I've put together a team to buy it. Unfortunately, we've had trouble expressing that to the owner."
It was Wilkinson's group that paid for Kansas City architectural firm HOK Sports to put together a rendering of a multi-sports facility that would seat between 8,000-12,000 and be located in downtown Roanoke near Hotel Roanoke. City councilman Mac McCadden caused a stir last week when he revealed the plans for the proposed facility.
Bowles, of Moneta, confirmed he had talked with Wilkinson.
"When all this started, of anybody in these United States who could be considered a front-runner to buy the team, it was Wilkinson and his group," Bowles said. "But what he has said to me repeatedly is that my price was too high.
"We met in my office in Rocky Mount two days before I was supposed to go to the Winter Meetings. The last thing he said to me before he left was, `When you decide to be more reasonable, call me.' I told him that I didn't know whether the price was reasonable or not, but if he picked up the paper in a couple of weeks and saw that the team had been sold, then he could bet his house that that was the price I got."
Bowles is believed to want $2 million for the team.
In view of his verbal agreement, Bowles said he did not think it would be proper to engage in talks with anybody else.
"I could be sued," he said.
Wilkinson said that he and Bowles had discussed the team on and off for a year and a half, most recently late last week. Wilkinson said he'd never balked at the price. Wilkinson, 33, owns a company that develops and markets retirement communities and said his group could afford to meet the asking price for the team. Furthermore, he said the group had deep enough pockets that it would be interested in looking into sharing in the cost of a new facility to replace outdated Municipal Field, the Bucs' home.
Wilkinson would not say who his backers were, but sources familiar with his group say it is United Coal Company of Bristol. United Coal is among the top-five coal producers in the state and also has such diverse holdings as golf courses and the old Dominion Bank building in downtown Roanoke.
Wilkinson said his interest in the Bucs is straightforward.
"It's simple," he said. "The Bucs are a product that is underutilized. I've confirmed that by talking to people around the country who are in baseball."
Like Bowles and others, Wilkinson thinks that the primary problem with the Bucs now is Municipal Field. Hence his research into a new ballpark. Despite the proposed plans for a park in Roanoke, Wilkinson said he would talk to officials in Salem and the county about a new ballpark. Nothing was set in stone, he said.
However, it appeared to be too late for him. He wasn't giving up, though.
"If this deal isn't closed, then I think Kelvin should be concerned enough about the issue of local ownership that he open discussions back up again," he said.
That did not seem likely.
"I appreciate Dale's interest," Bowles said. "I can't see it going through for him, though."
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB