Baseball facilities cause council spat

In Heidenheim, Germany, the extention of baseball facilities for the local baseball club is causing a political spat on the local council because of the project's spiraling costs -- local taxpayers' expense.

The Heidenheim Heideköpfe play in Germany's Bundesliga. According to the Heidenheimer Zeitung, they are are planning to build a new Baseball Center including an indoor batting cage and a clubhouse with showers, changing rooms, toilels, a first-aid facility, and an umpires' changing room. Financing it is the problem: The state government of Baden-Württemberg has already signaled its intention to pay €255,000 toward the project, because the Heidenheim club's facility is a regional centre for excellence, but an additional €168,400 are needed. The club intends to raise half from its sponsors, but wants the city council to raise its contribution to cover the rest. The existing part of the club's facilities has already cost €962,000 to build. This including €622,000 of the local council's money, and some on the council are balking at providing even more money to a minority sport.

The Christian Democrats support the increases, but the leader of the Social Democrat group on the council, opposes the plans to extend funding, which he sees as a using a "bottomless barrel" of public money. The additional funding, he said, was not justifiable in terms of the public interest and that of other athletes in the town.