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JohnU11 wrote:

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you can read all that into this and refer back to my non-comment about Mayor Clay.
I suppose I can forthright say this is the man who went on CNN on primary night and made a complete idiot out of himself.
He despises the principle of the ballpark and has no idea what to do about that.
He and his cronies took their share off the top when that stadium was built, jacking up the price and playing it off on the public as rich money being spent at the expense of poor.

This is entitlement government, they being entitled to their share first.

Lest it seem inappropriate to mix baseball and politics, in this case, there's something at stake.
This ballclub will eventually have to negotiate its existence in Gary.
The mayor and his fool's brigade will do whatever is necessary to make that difficult.
Exit, RailCats.
Who takes their place in this lovely stadium?
Dunno but I would not want to be the one trying to negotiate a deal with the city of Gary.
Enter, relic to the former greatness of minor league baseball in Gary.
An empty stadium, overgrown with weeds. There are other such facilities in the city.

The Railcats aren't going anywhere. It doesn't get any better for a ball club. Lake county (where Gary is located) is the second most populated county in the state of Indiana. The ballpark is located on two major highways (I-90 and I-65) and a third (I-80/94) is not too far away. The mayor is a political animal and does what politicans do. He sways with the political winds. Right now he's trying to find funding for his pet project, the former Sheraton hotel/future condo/future apartments project. That is why Mayor Clay is saying the city should have sought places for people to live downtown first. It's politics. The city is broke, but he actually supports professional sports (and clubs and restaurants for that matter) which also includes the Railcats. It's all about attracting people to downtown Gary in the long run.

nlfan wrote:
At least (I believe) they're no further than "Year Six" of a 10-yr. lease (if one includes the road trip year) with the city. Perhaps there will be another mayor involved with negotiating the lease then.

It's actually a 15-year lease. The lease agreement has already been adjusted though. The city now gets 20% of the rent paid by Bennigan's for use of the building. The Railcats were getting ALL of the revenue from rent until now. Sounds fair to me. The skyboxes and party decks are only available when the ballpark is open. The Railcats will keep 100% of the skybox and party deck revenue. Bennigan's is available all year long and when the ballpark is closed. The city should get a little of that money.