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Morganton strikes out; Little League going to Georgia

By Sharon McBrayer | The News Herald

Published: December 9, 2008

Morganton, N.C. - Little League International's southeast regional headquarters won't be coming to Morganton.
City officials received the news around 5 p.m. Tuesday that Little League chose Warner Robins, Ga., for the regional headquarters, announced Gary Leonhardt, director of parks and recreation for Morganton.
Leonhardt said he could tell it was a tough decision for Little League officials to tell him.
A news release from Little League didn't say why Morganton was not chosen. The story mentioned Warner Robins' central location in Little League's southeast region, an area that includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Warner Robins, Georgia's seventh-largest city with a population of about 49,000, is less than 20 miles south of Macon and about 100 miles southeast of Atlanta.
Also in the news release, Little League President and CEO Stephen D. Keener specifically thanked Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, in addition to the mayor of Warner Robins and community leaders, for helping bring the headquarters to Georgia.
"We are grateful as well to Morganton," Keener continued, "and, in particular, Mayor Mel Cohen.
"This was an extremely difficult decision which was undertaken with a great deal of deliberation. Our board of directors was very impressed by both of the proposals."
Mayor Cohen said the announcement saddened him. He said the Morganton community, as well as all of Burke County, really came together to try to make the headquarters a reality. But Cohen also said he realizes somebody had to lose.
"It's an understatement to say I'm disappointed and everybody around me is disappointed," he said.
The mayor said he had a dream two weeks ago about the decision.
"My dream was we didn't get it, but I was hoping my dream was dead wrong," Cohen said.
Leonhardt said he didn't ask why the city was not chosen when Little League officials called on Tuesday to tell him Morganton would not be the site. Leonhardt said he figured Little League examined both proposals and it came down to which one the organization felt was best.
Little League asked both cities for a 5,000-seat main stadium as well as other fields, offices and retail space.
Cohen speculated that Morganton was not chosen because the city couldn't raise the amount of money needed to meet what Little League wanted in the project, but that Warner Robins did.
Morganton's proposal called for Little League to contribute around $3 million to the project, but the proposed contract said any grants the city received for the project would reduce that cost.
Leonhardt noted that Georgia Gov. Perdue comes from Warner Robins and played in its Little League while he was growing up. Leonhardt said Warner Robins may have received more state support than Morganton.
"We're disappointed," he said, "but I think we did the best proposal we could put together."
Eighteen cities in six states originally competed for the southeast regional headquarters. The last one eliminated before the decision came down to Morganton and Warner Robins was Greenville, S.C.