The Millers' stadium: Another sign that Dakota County is becoming "the third city."

Those of you who have paid attention know I like calling south of the river and Dakota County, in particular, “the third city.” There’s Minneapolis. There’s St. Paul. And there’s the third city separated from the Twin Cities by a river that is wide — culturally, if not physically. People who live down here like staying down here to do their working, shopping and playing.

Burnsville Center has thrived while other regional malls have struggled because it’s the only mall south of the river. Communities, such as Lakeville, Burnsville and Rosemount are building arts centers so folks don’t have to drive north of the river for plays and concerts. Last week, two of our writers, Jeff Achen and Jason Olson, wrote about another development that has the potential for solidifying Dakota County’s claim as the metro’s third city with Burnsville as its core. Some developers are proposing a new baseball stadium in Burnsville for an expansion minor-league team that would resurrect the name “Millers.” The old Minneapolis Millers, started in 1884, played at the old Nicollet Park in Minneapolis and then Met Stadium in Bloomington, where they played their last game in 1955.

The $27 million open-air stadium would be on an old dump at the northwest corner of I-35W and Burnsville Parkway.

This would be a great project for our community. Burnsville City Council members seem excited, even though there are some tax breaks involved in the proposal. I had lunch the other day with John Adamich, owner of the beautiful Dodge of Burnsville store across 35W from the ballpark site, and he talked excitedly about how impressive it would be for drivers heading south across the river to see a beautiful stadium rather than a landfill as they enter Burnsville.

It would be a beautiful sight economically as well as physically, Adamich said. People living north of the river are as reluctant to cross the MInnesota as are those of us who live south. But with professional baseball games as a draw, we’d get people from up there to come down her to spend their dollars. And this project doesn’t have the issue that killed an effort two years ago to bring a Northwoods League baseball team to the municipal stadium in Prior Lake. Residents in the area objected to such activity too close to their homes, but the Burnsville stadium site isn’t in a residential area.

And perhaps most important, the site is far enough from the banks of the river that our friends in Bloomington, who worked against a proposed Burnsville amphiteatre on the river several years ago shouldn’t have an argument, since the stadium is set back far enough from the river to not be a noise problem on the north bank.

What we have here is a golden opportunity to create one more institution that, in this age of high gas prices and highway congestion, would give people living south of the river more reason to stay and spend south. For reasons of community pride and community economics, I hope we’re watching pro baseball in Burnsville next summer.

Tags: Larry Werner