What a great opportunity for the program. To not only be in the Pac-12, but to put in a brand new stadium would be a fantastic addition to our program and to the university. – Utah baseball coach Bill Kinneberg

SALT LAKE CITY — If two preliminary meetings are any indication, the University of Utah baseball team will have an on-campus stadium to call home.

“It seems like the process is going in a positive direction,” said Utah athletics director Chris Hill, who confirmed that the situation has been discussed with a board of trustees subcommittee.

Talks have also been initiated with Salt Lake City to acquire approximately 14,000 square feet of Sunnyside Park — a 30-foot strip of property on a steep hill running outside the left and center field fences of Utah’s current baseball practice facility on Guardsman Way — via a lease application. It would allow the project to be moved at least 30 more feet away from the street.

The $7.5 million project would transform Ute Field into a 2,000-seat stadium with an artificial turf surface to better accommodate bad weather and make it more available for community use. The latter could be part of an agreement with the city for use of the land. Any disruptions to the park — such as possible changes to a nearby softball field — would also be addressed.

However, there are many moving parts to a project that could possibly be completed by the spring of 2018 if everything goes smoothly.

Hill said it’s dependent of raising the funds and getting all the appropriate approvals from the board of trustees, board of regents, building board and state.

“We’re in the conceptual stages and will not move forward in a project until we have a secure funding plan and we have all the approvals from the university. So we don’t want to get ahead of the process,” he said. “But we want, at the same time, to look at generating the revenue so that when we get all the approvals and the pledges we can move forward. But it’s real important that we get all the approvals from within the university and outside.”

Utah currently plays its home games at 15,334-seat Smith’s Ballpark, home of the minor league Salt Lake Bees. Hill acknowledged the facility is “fabulous” and is extremely appreciative of how accommodating Bees general manager Marc Amicone and the Miller family have been over the years.

Sharing the facility, though, has become increasingly difficult because of scheduling and other demands. As such, Hill and folks at the university have embarked on a very similar effort to what was done for the Utah softball team. They moved into a new facility when the George S. Eccles Student Life Center was constructed on campus. The Utes have played at 1,410-seat Dumke Family Stadium since 2013.

“It’s all about fundraising, and we’re hoping that over the next year we can get things lined up,” Hill said of building something for baseball. “We then can start going out to bid and stuff.”

Hill declined to put a specific timeline on it, but said it’s a great naming opportunity for a major contributor because of its location on Guardsman Way, one of the more visible streets in Salt Lake City.

Conceptual plans for a baseball stadium surfaced at the program’s annual fundraiser in February. Hill acknowledged that the sport currently has the worst on-campus facilities on the hill.

“I think it’s one of the big pieces left for us,” he said of getting something done for the program. Fundraising efforts are ongoing.

Utah coach Bill Kinneberg is eager for things to come to fruition.

“That’s something that I’ve been dreaming about for 12 years now. So it’s getting closer. I know Chris and Jimmy Soto (Utah’s director of major gifts) are working extremely hard on it,” Kinneberg said. “What a great opportunity for the program. To not only be in the Pac-12, but to put in a brand new stadium would be a fantastic addition to our program and to the university.”

Although Kinneberg said that playing at a place like Smith’s Ballpark is a recruiting advantage of sorts, having a facility to practice at, play at and get used to is the “next step for this program.”

It’s a big step, he continued, and one that can’t do anything but help in recruiting.

That’s a huge issue in the competitive arena that is Pac-12 baseball.

“We’re in an absolutely difficult, challenging league and we’re hoping that this can help us with recruiting and having people feel good about wanting to be in our program,” Hill said. “We want to be realistic with our expectations, but we also shouldn’t be afraid of being challenged.”

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