NORMAL - While construction of a new baseball stadium at Heartland Community College will not begin until October and possibly November, eight of the ballpark's 14 suites have already been leased.

"We are down the road there," said Steve Malliet, a member of the ownership group that will bring a Frontier League team to the stadium in the spring of 2010. "We're hoping to finish (leasing) the suites in the next two months."

A stadium naming rights deal would run for a minimum of 10 years, Malliet indicated on Wednesday.

"We're working with several potential partners on that as we speak. We're hoping we can make an announcement soon on that," he said. "It's not all about who can give us the most money. It's about who will be the best partner and the best fit for marketing and everything."

While the initial plan was to build an artificial turf field first so Heartland baseball and softball teams could play at the stadium in the spring of 2009, that idea has been scrapped, according to Heartland spokeswoman Janet Hill-Getz.

"It was a scenario we were very hopeful about. It seemed at first it was going to work out," said Hill-Getz. "We felt it would be better and less disappointing in the long run to make alternative arrangements for this year, which we did. It's not a huge thing."

Heartland's baseball team will continue to play at the PONY Complex in Bloomington, while the softball squad will play at Maxwell Park, Champion Fields and Mitsubishi Fields in Normal.

Hawks baseball coach and athletic director Nate Metzger is holding out hope the Heartland baseball and softball teams will be able to make occasional appearances on the stadium field next spring.

"We're still shooting for that. We're hoping to pick and choose dates maybe we can still get on," Metzger said. "But the reality of playing all our games and practices there is probably not going to happen."

According to Malliet, safety issues are the primary roadblock to constructing a field first with the stadium structure coming later.

"A stadium could be built around a field, no doubt. The issue is safety," he said. "To have a baseball field on a construction site, there are all kinds of issues with different entities. There were a lot of difficulties people didn't necessarily foresee."

Malliet said the goal is now to have the stadium totally completed by March 1, 2010 for Heartland baseball and softball. The minor league team would begin play in May, 2010.