Clouds cover LoanMart Field in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (File photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Ontario leaders have signed off on an agreement with the owner of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, setting the stage for a future baseball stadium in Ontario Ranch.
The City Council approved agreements Tuesday, Aug. 15, with Rancho Baseball LLC, which owns the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ minor league affiliate, as well as contracts with Populous Inc. and Tilden-Coil Constructors Inc. for design work on the proposed $95 million stadium and parking structure.
Tuesday night, Mayor Paul Leon said he was excited by the possible addition of a stadium in the southern part of town, adding visitors will find the number of amenities there “mind-boggling.”
“It is not your grandfather’s baseball diamond,” he said, noting that investments such as the stadium are setting the stage for the city’s future economic growth.
The proposed ballpark would be located south of East Riverside Drive and between Vineyard and Archibald avenues, in the future Ontario Regional Sports Complex, which is already in the works, a city report states.
The city is developing 200 acres of land for the sports complex and the baseball stadium is expected to take up 10 to 12 acres of that property. As proposed, the stadium would seat about 5,000 fans.
Earlier this year, the city approved the $172 million purchase of 112 acres in Ontario Ranch to build the sports complex to replace the 54-acre soccer complex off the 60 Freeway. Construction of the new complex is set to begin in 2024 and would ideally open in September 2026.
“The frosting on the cake to me is we have the chance to build a professional baseball stadium and bring a professional baseball team here to Ontario,” Councilmember Alan Wapner said at the meeting Tuesday.
Quakes’ President Brent Miles said Monday the team has no plans to move away from Rancho Cucamonga but ownership hopes to bring a second team to the area.
The Quakes are working with the city of Rancho Cucamonga on a long-term lease agreement and on needed upgrades to LoanMart Field to bring it into compliance with Major League Baseball standards.
Ontario City Manager Scott Ochoa said the agreement approved Tuesday with Rancho Baseball lays the groundwork for a future stadium in Ontario Ranch.
“The MOU is basically a framework for us to continue talking and negotiating, if ever there was going to be a lease,” said Ochoa in an interview Monday.
According to Ochoa, next steps include an environmental review of the project, followed by design and eventual construction. Under the agreement approved Tuesday, the city has until March 2026, in time for baseball season, to finish the stadium.
