MACON - The city of Macon, which will be without a baseball team when the minor-league Braves pick up and move to Rome next season, stands a fair chance of luring another team to town, the mayor says. <br>
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Macon is talking to several minor-league teams that have expressed interest in moving, and the city could land one as early as the 2003 season, Mayor Jack Ellis said. <br>
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``I like our position right now with a baseball team,'' he said. <br>
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Ellis and members of his sports committee, a group of business and civic leaders appointed to seek new sports franchises, declined to say which teams have shown interest. <br>
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The key to luring a new team will be fixing the problem that sent the Macon Braves looking for a new home. Luther Williams Field, the second-oldest park in the minors, needs major renovation, possibly as much as $2.5 million worth. <br>
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Rome agreed to build a $12 million park to attract the Macon Braves. <br>
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Ellis wants a one-cent addition to the sales tax to pay for fixing up the old park, but Bibb County commissioners have been cool to the idea. <br>
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Another option is federal funding. Last week the sports committee applied to place Luther Williams Field on the national registry of historic places. The park was built in 1929. <br>
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If Luther Williams is placed on the registry, the city could sell tax credits to raise money for the renovations. This concept worked for a ballpark in Daytona Beach, Fla. <br>
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The sports committee will meet again Aug. 8 to discuss the historic registry process, to discuss the talks with the Class A team and to meet with architects to brainstorm ideas for field renovations. <br>
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Martha and Charles Cleary, who were watching the Macon Braves at Luther Williams earlier this week, said they will miss their beloved team. <br>
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``Since we have to be without the Braves, by all means we have to get a team here,'' Charles Cleary said.
