MCC stadium bid strikes out ... for now

McHenry County College's controversial expansion plan early this morning was put on indefinite hold.

The college's plan to build a $26 million 95,000-square-foot Health, Wellness and Athletic complex north and west of the Route 14 campus was tabled by the Crystal Lake City Council.

Part of the college's plan includes a 6,500-seat baseball stadium that would host a minor-league team.

Although the city council voted 4-3 to approve the plan with some conditions, a supermajority of five votes was required because the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission previously had voted, 8-0, to recommend that the proposal be denied.

Council members David Goss, Ellen Brady Mueller, Cathy Ferguson, and Mayor Aaron Shepley voted to approve the plan, while Jeff Thorsen, Ralph Dawson and Brett Hopkins, voted against it.

After the vote failed to win a supermajority, the council agreed to table the college's plan to an upcoming city council meeting.

"That does not mean we have to consider it at the next (meeting) -- it simply means we can revisit the issue again in the future," Shepley said.

MCC College President Walter Packard said "almost certainly" the college would not present its bid at the next City Council meeting Nov. 2.

"We'll need more time than that to prepare," he said.