FLORENCE — A 4,000-seat baseball stadium and a minor league baseball franchise for Florence are another step closer to reality.

        City officials approved a letter of intent Tuesday to buy and own stadium land.

        Gary Enzweiler, managing partner of NKPB Ltd., wants to build the ballpark at Interstate 75 and U.S. 42 and bring in a Frontier League franchise, for which he holds exclusive rights in the Greater Cincinnati area.

        Florence City Council apparently is as eager to see the project advance as Mr. Enzweiler.

        “We approved the letter of intent with a unanimous vote,” Mayor Diane Whalen said. “The next step is for the city to acquire the land.”

        The mayor said one of the most important points in the letter of intent is that the city would purchase and retain ownership of the land where the stadium would be built.

        “Our interest is in the land and in the quality-of-life issues that a ballpark and team would mean to the city,” Ms. Whalen said. “If, for some reason, the team would fail, the city would always have the property.”

        The ordinance approving the letter of intent states that the city will “advertise for bids for a contract (for someone) to construct a ballpark and furnish a professional baseball team generally under the terms and conditions of the letter of intent.”

        The city must accept the best bid for the project, but no one but Mr. Enzweiler has approached the city with plans for a minor league team and ballpark.

        “This is tremendous,” Mr. Enzweiler said Wednesday. “This (letter of intent) is what we were looking for. We wanted the city to let us know they would definitely participate and move forward with the project.”

        Mr. Enzweiler, who first talked to the city about the possibility of a minor league franchise playing in a new Florence stadium about a year ago, said he is now more optimistic than ever that the deal can be completed.

        The city wants to purchase about 26 acres at I-75 and U.S. 42 at the site of Fantasy Frontier park and amusement center.

        Initial discussions with the owners of the Fantasy Frontier property were not very productive, the mayor said.

        “We hope we can come to an agreement, because the asking price for the land is more than we can pay,” she said.

        Two other pieces of property, one along I-75 near the Fantasy Frontier site and another on Houston Road near Turfway Park, are also possibilities, she said.

        The letter of intent calls for NKPB to construct the stadium and lease it from the city, paying 50 percent of the debt service on the bonds the city would use to purchase the land. The lease agreement would be for 30 years, with NKPB paying five percent of its gross revenues in excess of $4 million as an additional lease payment.

        Mrs. Whalen said the city has agreed to work with NKPB to find a partner by Dec. 31 to purchase naming rights to the stadium.

        NKPB would receive all revenues from operation of the ballpark including the naming rights, seat license sales, advertising signage, concessions and broadcast fees.

        Former Cincinnati Reds infielder Chris Sabo, who makes his home in Cincinnati, has said publicly he would be interested in managing a Frontier League team in Florence.

        The Frontier League is a private baseball league headquartered in Zanesville, Ohio. It started in 1992-1993 with eight teams in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.

        The league had 12 teams competing during the 2001 season in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and London, Ontario, Canada.

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