In August, the City Commission agreed to enter into a plan that included public and private financing for a 7,000-seat stadium at the site of the Comfort Inn hotel on North River Road. But Michigan Sports LLC, a team of investors that had pushed the plan and agreed to put up half of the $50,000 cost for a feasibility study, did not proceed with the study, according to City Manager Richard Lessner.

City officials had been negotiating for the past three years with various groups to land a $20 million stadium--including 300 suites --that also would have hosted outdoor concerts, high school athletics and other events. Due to a lack of funds, however, the city was unable to move the project forward until Michigan Sports agreed this past summer to put up $12 million in private funds while Macomb County would have bonded the remaining $8 million. There would have been a lease between the city and the county, and the city would then sublease to Michigan Sports.

The end of the dream for some to bring minor league baseball to the Macomb County seat likely truly ended last November. That's when former Mount Clemens Mayor Quinnie Cody returned to the mayor's seat after a four-year absence. Cody was critical of the baseball plan during his campaign. His opponent, then-Mayor Harry Diehl had been perhaps the biggest proponent of the baseball stadium ideal at city hall. Some political observers at the time said the mayoral election, for a job that pays about $1,200 a year, was something of an unofficial referendum on the stadium issue.