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State Agency Gives Thumbs Up to High Point Stadium Debt Plan

Hundreds of people gathered Friday for the groundbreaking at the future site of the High Point baseball stadium. The project overcame a major regulatory hurdled Tuesday. (Sean Bueter/WFDD)

The North Carolina Local Government Commission has approved the debt plan proposed by High Point city leaders that will help build a long-touted baseball stadium.

Even though officials broke ground on the stadium project on Friday, they still had certain details to iron out.

This approval by a state oversight agency was one of them. Now that the $30 million-plus debt plan has the thumbs-up, it means a major regulatory hurdle is in the rearview mirror.

The plan to build the High Point baseball stadium and surrounding projects like a museum, park and event center is a public-private endeavor. And the fact that the city will have to borrow to get the job done has not been without criticism.

The stadium itself needs to be finished by spring of 2019 because an independent minor league baseball team has already committed to playing there.

Sean Bueter joined WFDD in August 2015 as a reporter covering issues across the Piedmont Triad and beyond.Previously, Sean was a reporter, host and news director at WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., just a few hours from where he grew up. He also sorted Steve Inskeep's mail as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.Sean has experience on a variety of beats, including race, wealth and poverty, economic development, and more. His work has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and APM's Marketplace.In his spare time, Sean plays tennis (reasonably well), golf (reasonably poorly), and scours local haunts for pinball machines to conquer.

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