Royals-Papillion deal finalized

Its completion had been all but certain, but the agreement to send the Omaha Royals to Papillion was finalized Wednesday when a July 1 deadline passed without protest.

“This is just the next step in the progression from where we started to where we want to be,” Omaha Royals president Alan Stein said late Wednesday.

Construction on the $25 million, 6,000-seat stadium — which will stand near 126th Street and Highway 370 — could begin within weeks, Stein said, with a completion date sometime in the next 14 months.

The Papillion site's developer hopes to surround the suburban ballpark with an entertainment district that includes new bars, restaurants and shopping.

The Royals are fully prepared to meet their $2.35 million end of the bargain, Stein said, adding that the rest of the stadium's financing is Sarpy County's responsibility. The Royals also will make annual debt payments.

“We don't care what tools in the county's toolbox get used for their piece of the obligation — we know that we have an obligation, and we're funded and prepared to fulfill our part of it,” Stein said.

It's really a done deal, he said.

“There's no turning back from it now, necessarily,” Stein said. “We have been saying from the very beginning that this is the deal we want to do.”

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444-1068, johnny.perez@owh.com