Minor League Baseball team pulls plans for Pueblo

Will the Orem Owlz be moving to Pueblo after all? No.

We first told you it was a possibility last week, but Pueblo County officials said they were still working on a deal to keep the Minor League Baseball team’s plans for the Steel City. Monday, the county made it official and said work is ending on the project to bring the team.

“Unfortunately, the project opponents have made the chance of success far too unlikely to move forward,” a news release from Pueblo County said.

The issue was that the owner of the Owlz, Jeff Katofsky, wanted to build three hotels where the abandoned Police Annex currently stands, close to the proposed site of the stadium. However, other developers in the area said that would give the Owlz owner an unfair advantage.

Another big obstacle was the money. County Commissioner Garrison Ortiz fears the project will take away funds from other public projects in Pueblo.

The county says the cancellation of the stadium build won’t impact other projects, including the Riverwalk expansion, Runyon Sports Complex expansion, and Main Street pedestrian redesign.