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Friday, May 24, 2013 | 9:36 a.m.

Posted: 2:35 p.m. Thursday, June 21, 2012

New stadium, baseball team could be headed downtown

Potential team owners want team playing by 2014

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By Martina Valverde

EL PASO, Texas —

The skyline of downtown El Paso could soon get a major change -- a Triple-A baseball stadium.

For the last two years, two of El Paso's heavy hitters and biggest contributors, Woody Hunt and Paul Foster, have been working to bring a Triple-A baseball team to El Paso.

"It's a very competitive process," said Josh Hunt of Hunt Companies.

The Triple-A league is only one step below having a major league team, and there are only 30 of them.

Hunt said buying a Triple-A team and building a stadium go hand-in-hand. Many El Pasoans' dreams of having a stadium ended when the city eliminated stadium funding as part of the 2012 Quality of Life Bond, but Hunt said that is why they are acting now. They'll buy the team, but the city must build the stadium.

"We'll view this as El Paso's team and El Paso's stadium," he said.

The city has made it clear they won't build a stadium until a team is in place, and Tuesday's City Council agenda hints that has likely happened. They will consider funding the stadium, which would sit where El Paso City Hall and the Insights Museum are currently located in downtown El Paso. As far as having the team, Hunt is staying tight-lipped.

"There's confidentiality around this process. We have several steps to go," he said.

There's been speculation the team is the Tucson Padres, an affiliate of the San Diego Padres. A deal to move them to California recently fell through.

"Our hope is that we could have a team playing here in 2014," said Hunt.

Hunt said there are two reasons his family and Paul Foster want to be game changers: to revitalize downtown and to improve El Paso's quality of life.

"There have always been misperceptions about El Paso and its safety. The fact is, El Paso is the safest city," said Hunt.

Also on Tuesday's City Council agenda, the council will consider giving the city manager the go-ahead to find a new location for City Hall.

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