Hillsboro, OR Hops baseball stadium plan in limbo as team scrambles for $20M

Mortenson, SRG and Populous make up the design team behind the Hillsboro Hops’ soon-to-be baseball stadium. (Courtesy Hillsboro Hops)

by: Nick LaMora/Portland Tribune

Posted: Oct 13, 2023 / 07:24 PM PDT

Updated: Oct 13, 2023 / 07:24 PM PDT

The Portland Tribune is a KOIN 6 News media partner.

PORTLAND, Ore. (Portland Tribune) — The upcoming week could decide the fate of the Hillsboro Hops.

The Hops are in a dire situation: The team needs to find funding for a new stadium, or its owners will most likely have to sell the team, according to longtime president and general manager K.L. Wombacher.

The team’s Sept. 30 deadline to inform Major League Baseball of a “path forward” has passed, and the Hops are stuck scrambling to find $20 million while waiting for a response to their extension request.

The minor league team had its genesis as the Yakima Bears before relocating to Hillsboro after the 2012 season. The newly minted Hillsboro Hops opened play at Hillsboro Ballpark, now Ron Tonkin Stadium, in 2013. They just completed their 10th season at the ballpark, which was constructed specifically for the Hops.

“Within nine months, the stadium was designed and constructed for $15 million,” Wombacher said of Ron Tonkin Field. “None of us thought this would be the permanent stadium for 50 years. The goal was to get a place where the team could move and get the territory established.”