news-record.com

WINSTON-SALEM (MCT) — Officials of the Winston-Salem Dash baseball team officially told season-ticket holders what almost anyone who has seen the downtown stadium construction site might have guessed: The team won't play any home games in the new ballpark this season.

Work on the stadium is at a standstill, stopped cold by ownership negotiations between team co-owners Billy Prim and Andrew "Flip" Filipowski.

Prim is trying to buy out Filipowski's share of the team. The two business partners and brothers-in-law have owned the team together since 2002. They have been negotiating the buyout since at least November.

Prim has said that construction will resume when the ownership negotiation is complete.

He did not return a phone call yesterday but said in a news release issued by the team: "We ... feel at this point that the best interest of our fans and the project for this year beyond will be served by focusing on opening the new park in 2010."

Kevin Mortesen, a spokesman for the team, said that the negotiations were almost finished.

The team will play the rest of its home games at Wake Forest Baseball Park, where the Single-A Dash has been playing since its April home opener. The team, formerly known as the Winston-Salem Warthogs, is an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

Team officials had held out hope that the team would play part of the season at the new stadium, until this week committing only to games at Wake Forest's field through June.

But this week, team officials sent a letter to people who had paid a deposit for season tickets to the new stadium with the following message: "We have now made the necessary decision to not try and play games in the new stadium in 2009 ... instead concentrating on opening in 2010 with no question or concern about the process."

The letter was signed by Kevin Terry, the team's president.

According to the letter, people who have paid toward season tickets in the new stadium can roll those payments over to pay for tickets in the 2010 season.

They can also apply the payments toward tickets to games at Wake Forest Baseball Park, formerly Ernie Shore Field.

The city of Winston-Salem has spent $12 million in taxpayers' money to help pay for the $38 million, 5,500-seat stadium at Peters Creek Parkway and First Street downtown.

City officials borrowed $5.5 million of that $12 million, which will end up costing taxpayers another $3.1 million in interest over the 20-year life of the loan. The stadium must be finished by March 2010, according to the team's contract with the city.

The negotiations between Prim and Filipowski have affected more than construction: Last week, the team laid off as many as 10 off-field employees. Small businesses that have worked on the stadium say they have not been paid. One subcontractor has filed a lien, claiming that it is owed more than $84,000.

Mortesen said that subcontractors would be paid when the ownership negotiations are complete.