Who’s ready for the thrill of minor league baseball to return to Northern Alabama? Madison sure is. The Mobile Bay Bears ownership group, BallCorps LLC, has confirmed its interest in a potential move to a Madison venue.

Since the Huntsville Stars left the area in 2014, Huntsville and the greater Madison area has suffered from a lack of baseball. “I used to go to the Huntsville Stars games all the time, and the empty stadium in Huntsville is sad,” said senior Janice Hendrick.

With the selling of the Mobile Bay Bears and the link between the ownership group and a potential Madison venue, Baseball fans in North Alabama have something to look forward to. A tract of land in the New Town Madison development off of Zeirdt Road has been slated for a potential location for this new stadium. With its close proximity to Madison, and prime location off of 565, the stadium can easily bring in a Huntsville and Madison audience.

In addition to confirming a space of land for the stadium, city council has penned Turner Construction Co. to build the Populous Inc. design concept. With construction beginning as soon as summer of 2018, Baseball fans in the area could see the Bay Bears playing in the stadium as soon as the summer of ‘19 season.

Besides having the excitement of the MiLB back in the area, the potential creation of a $40 million dollar, 7,200 seat multi use venue will likely be an exciting prospect for many in madison. Not only will the new location bring in new business to the area, the venue also provides a prime job opportunity for many Madison residents.

Although many are excited for this new venue, some residents on Zeirdt aren’t so excited for this new business. Bob Jones student Tyler Slager, who lives off of Zeirdt road, said, “It’s already too crowded on Zeirdt, the traffic is crazy as is, this is just going to add to it.”