Chicago Bandits to make home in Elgin

Elgin is about to score a professional sports franchise.

Representatives from the city, Judson University and the Chicago Bandits softball team have agreed in principle to a deal that would bring the Bandits to Elgin in 2008, city and university officials said Friday.

The team has been playing at Benedictine University in Lisle but was under contract only through this year.

Under the terms of the deal with Elgin, the Bandits would play at Judson for three years while the city builds a permanent new sports facility, the officials said.

"It looks like the pieces are in place," Mayor Ed Schock said Friday. "We have an agreement in principle that's going to be beneficial to the city and the team."

The Chicago Bandits are part of the National Pro Fastpitch league. The Bandits finished 23-21 in 2007, missing the playoffs for the first time in their history. On the team is Jennie Finch, the star pitcher of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in 2004.

In exchange for letting the Bandits play at Judson for the first three years, the city will spend $350,000 on upgrades to the university's field, including new dugouts, new bleachers, brighter lights and a new clay infield, Judson President Jerry Cain said.

"I think it's a win-win for Judson, for the city and for the Bandits," Cain said. "We're kind of excited about it. I think they will be loved and respected and have a lot of support in the city of Elgin."

A Benedictine University spokesman said he hadn't heard about the move, but wished the Bandits well if they decided to leave Lisle.

"We've had a great partnership in the time they've been here," university spokesman Phil Brozynski said. "If they are in fact leaving, we just wish them the best."

Even with a deal in place, the Elgin City Council will still have to approve construction of the new stadium and the upgrades at the Judson field.

Judson board members, however, have already heard details of the plan and decided to give the decision-making power to university officials, Cain said.

"We won't have to get board approval," said Cain, who added that he sat down with city and team officials to work out the details of the move. "We agreed around a table on everything. Right now it's sitting down to write the paperwork. It's in the city manager's office in Elgin."

Bandits principal owner and general manager Bill Conroy declined to discuss the move.

But on Thursday, a Bandits spokesman had said the team was getting closer to a deal.

"I would say we're courting each other on this issue," Gerry Clarke, the Bandits director of team operations, said Thursday. "It certainly looks good. I hope we have good news soon."

Clarke has previously said the plan is to build a 4,400-seat stadium on the site of the old Spartan Meadows Golf Course, which is now part of the Highlands of Elgin.

The 45-acre entertainment and sports complex could also include two miniature golf courses, gardens, batting cages, restaurants and shops, a Santa's Village-type amusement park and a 3-hole golf course, he had said.