The Panhandle Parks Foundation is winding up its opening pitch for a proposed new $2 million-to-$3 million baseball stadium in Coeur d'Alene that would replace the American Legion baseball facility at McEuen Field and allow for other sports and event uses.

The stadium would be located on the east side of 15th Street, just north of Cherry Park, on 5 acres of land the city recently bought from the Coeur d'Alene Eagles for $440,000 with the idea of building a new ball field there.

"We would love to start construction later this year so it could be ready by the fall of 2013 or spring of 2014," says Ron Ouren, Panhandle Parks Foundation board member and senior vice president of Coeur d'Alene-based Community 1st Bank.

The nonprofit foundation holds property and raises money for park development in the five northern counties in Idaho. It has hired Jim Faucher, of Faucher Fundraising Consulting, of Coeur d'Alene, to head up the funding effort for the proposed stadium.

Ouren says that as envisioned, the facility would include 800 seats initially, most of which would be covered, and the field would have artificial turf, which would allow for extended sports seasons. The stadium could be expanded to 1,200 seats in the future, he says.

The stadium would be built to Single-A minor league professional baseball specifications, and would be ideal for hosting college exhibition games, but also would allow infield adjustments to host Little League baseball and softball games, Ouren says. The field also could be reconfigured for soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey, he says.

"It's our hope that this facility will used for major events," Ouren says.

Miller Stauffer Architects PA, of Coeur d'Alene, has provided conceptual designs for the stadium. Miller Stauffer also is the architectural firm heading up the Team McEuen design team for a planned McEuen Park conversion project.

Ouren says the concept for a new baseball facility has been around for years, although recent decisions by the Coeur d'Alene City Council to move forward with a plan to convert McEuen Field into a multiuse park brought the current vision for the stadium to the forefront.

Removing the field from McEuen has been one of the more contentious points of the McEuen Park plan. Recent City Council decisions on the plan, including the purchase of the former Eagles property, have been decided consistently on 4-3 votes, with Mayor Sandi Bloem casting the deciding votes.

Although Coeur d'Alene's urban renewal agency, the Lake City Development Corporation, plans to fund a significant portion of the $14.2 million McEuen Park conversion, LCDC funds can't be used to fund the proposed stadium because that site lies outside of its urban renewal districts.

The city likely would be able to schedule more activities and take in more revenue at the proposed stadium than currently is possible at the McEuen facility, Ouren says.

Fundraising hasn't begun officially yet, but Faucher and Ouren say they're optimistic the community will support the concept.

"The energy and enthusiasm is encouraging," Faucher says. "We're getting lots of phone calls from individuals and organization indicating there's good support for it."

Faucher says the initial fundraising campaign will seek major gifts, and the last part will seek community donations.

Along the way, prospective contributors will have opportunities to sponsor the name of the stadium and the scoreboard, he says. The outfield fence also would have advertising space that would provide ongoing revenues at the stadium.

While the foundation would collect donations for the project, the city would own and maintain the stadium and coordinate scheduling for it.

Ouren says that the stadium probably wouldn't have to be complete before McEuen Field is removed from the McEuen Park area, because the city is seeking temporary alternatives for that field.