By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - Now that the proposal to convert the old Mercy Hospital Hamilton into a social services center has died, the site is receiving more interest as the possible location of a baseball stadium.

The site along the Great Miami River downtown would give the new stadium a scenic location and could spur riverfront development, some city officials say.

"It certainly would be the ideal site for the stadium," Hamilton Mayor Donald Ryan said.

"It's one of the preferred sites, if not the preferred site," said Hamilton Councilman Richard Holzberger, who is leading the city's effort to attract a Frontier League baseball team and a privately funded baseball stadium. "It would help existing businesses, and we can foresee bars, restaurants, souvenir spots and other retail stores opening up."

Hamilton is working with Mercy Health Partners, which owns the site, and other parties to market the site for a use that would benefit the community. The hospital closed two years ago.

Before anyone commits to building a baseball stadium at the Mercy location, there will be a lot more research and discussion.

The city is helping a group of potential investors determine the best site for the ballpark.

A city-appointed committee also has begun studying the potential for development on the downtown riverfront. A convention center, a fine arts center, restaurants as well as a ballpark are among the uses being considered.

"We want to make sure that whatever happens on the Mercy site fits in with the riverfront development plan," Edwards said. "We have to look at what would really work in our city."

The northeast corner of High Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is another site often mentioned when the new baseball stadium discussed.

The cost of purchasing property and developing it for a stadium will be an important factor in considering any potential site.

"You have to be able to make it work financially," said Hamilton Councilman Ed Shelton, who is a developer.

One of the disadvantages of the Mercy site would be the need to demolish the old hospital at a cost of about $1.5 million.

"Any time you spend that kind of money for demolition, that's a lot," Shelton said.

Butler County United Way considered converting the old hospital into a social services/community resources center. But a committee that included representatives from United Way and Mercy Health Partners, Butler County and Hamilton recently determined that the project would cost $17 million and would be too expensive.

Butler and Hamilton officials, however, liked the idea of a one-stop social services center and encouraged the committee to look at other sites in Hamilton. Hamilton will get a taste of professional baseball this year. Hamilton's Foundation Field will host the home games this season for Florence, Ky.'s new Frontier League team because the new stadium in Florence won't be ready in time. Hamilton hopes to attract a Frontier League team that would begin playing next year or in 2005.

Kert Radel, chairman of Hamilton's Baseball Advisory Committee, prefers the Mercy site for the ballpark because of its picturesque setting, its potential to spur economic development and its proximity to 1,500 parking spaces in downtown parking garages and 1,900 street parking spaces.

"A ballpark would be a natural for that site," Radel said. "Other cities have had success having ballparks on rivers. I'll support baseball wherever it goes. But I'd like to see it go by the river."

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com