Meghan Youker

OMAHA (KPTM) - An Omaha senator steps up to the plate, hoping to keep the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium.

The bill proposed in the legislature Wednesday would give the city of Omaha state money to renovate or rebuild Rosenblatt.

Supporters say it would not require the city keep the series at Rosenblatt, but it would encourage the mayor's baseball committee to make what they call the fiscally responsible decision.

"Playing the College World Series somewhere other than Rosenblatt is like holding the Kentucky Derby outside of Churchill Downs.  You just lose something," said Sen. John Synowiecki, who represents District 7 in South Omaha.

Synowiecki calls his plan the Nebraska Sports Tourism Advantage Act.

If approved, it would take up to $20 million from the state's cash reserve and give it to the city.  Omaha would have to spend $3 for every state dollar.

"We can not afford to lose this enterprise," Synowiecki said.

Synowiecki says the whole state has an economic interest in keeping the CWS in Omaha and preferably at Rosenblatt.

He says building elsewhere would burden city and state taxpayers with millions of dollars in new infrastructure costs.

"It's only at Rosenblatt that we have this good of an option, this bang for your buck.  And that's what we're interested in... is making this economically viable for the citizens because people want to save Rosenblatt," said Jason Smith of the Save Rosenblatt Committee.

But some people want a new downtown stadium and say it's fair to ask taxpayers statewide to chip in.

"I think building a bigger more vibrant place downtown is more beneficial for the community in the long run," said Daniel Whittmann of Omaha.

"We ought to try to find a way to fund it.  And we ought to fund it with as many private funds as we possibly can and then dig into the coffers so to speak, and if folks in the western part of the state contribute to that to some degree, I think they're going to enjoy the benefit of it at some point in time," said Michael Hemenway of Omaha.

The proposal is a one-time transfer from the state's cash reserve, which currently has more than $500 million in it.  While that's a record, many lawmakers talk about saving that money in case of an economic downturn.

Mayor Fahey's office says it's too early to talk about a stadium-financing plan because the baseball committee hasn't come back with its recommendations.

The committee's ideas will be discussed publicly, when they go before the MECA board February 6th.