The Hill Country Texas Galleria LLC, an investment group that purchased Bee Cave’s Field of Dreams tract from the Lake Travis Youth Association in August, stated it intended to donate the ballfields to the city of Bee Cave to remain a park for use by the youth group. But the galleria announced in an Oct. 10 news release that “the proposal has been terminated.”

The LTYA confirmed the cancellation of the proposed transaction Oct. 11. The Field of Dreams is located at 13909 W. Hwy. 71, Bee Cave.

For the transaction to have been completed, the city was required to accept the tract as a gift, with the possibility of incurring financial obligations for the upkeep of the complex and/or the safety of its users.

“As we said when we announced this proposed gift, the easy part of this proposal was our making the contribution to fund the purchase,” said Adrian Overstreet, managing partner for the investment group. “The more difficult part was negotiating an agreement between the city and the LTYA regarding the use of the field by LTYA and the improvements that were needed to make the Field of Dreams acceptable as a city park.”

He said LTYA’s concerns over a proposed operating agreement for the fields and Bee Cave’s issues regarding the costs associated with bringing the fields up to current city code and its potential financial liability caused the deal to fall apart.

“LTYA will continue to own and operate the 19-acre Field of Dreams sports field complex to serve nearly 6,000 children and their families in our fast-growing community,” the association said in its news release.

The nearly 40-year-old organization is run by volunteers who provide instructional athletic programs for children in the Lake Travis community.

In 2014, the city of Lakeway purchased a tract on Bee Creek Road to possibly serve as LTYA’s future home. Lakeway officials stated they would work with Travis County toward creating a bond election that would fund new fields and facilities on the tract, with LTYA using the money it would gain from the sale of its Bee Cave site to add further improvements. In August, LTYA Executive Director Scott Cronk said the organization would use both the West Hwy. 71 and potential Bee Creek tracts for its rapidly expanding number of members.
“LTYA continues to work with County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, Travis County commissioners and parks staff, the city of Lakeway and surrounding communities to create a county-owned West Travis County Sports complex,” Cronk said Oct. 12 to Community Impact Newspaper.  “County planning and efforts are ongoing and we remain optimistic about additional parks and sports facilities for area children and families.”