VANCOUVER (AP) - In a bid to land their second Weaver League franchise - if you recall the Hong Kong Dragons were, for one short season in 2001, the Vancouver Vipers - the city of Vancouver has broken ground on a purpose-built baseball only stadium.

Nat Bailey Stadium, located at the corner of 33rd and Clancy Loranger Way in Vancouver, is a picturesque spot for a baseball park only 5 minutes from the city centre. The park will be flanked by views down the hill towards Vancouver city centre to the north, and wrapping around the rest of the stadium is the 130-acres of Queen Elizabeth Park. Mayor Philip Owen was on hand to break ground at the new stadium, which in pictures looks remarkably similar to Auburn Field - the current home of the Sydney Roos.

"This is a great day for the city of Vancouver, we have long since attracted great crowds for hockey games and basketball games, now we would like to add a Weaver League baseball team to our city. We feel that even if a team does not come to Vancouver, we can attract a AAA team to play here, especially in the lovely new Nat Bailey Stadium."

When asked about the similarities to Auburn Field, Mayor Owen chose his words carefully.

"Sydney is one of the places we visited to check out their facilities and make no mistake we were well impressed. We also visited Edmonton's Seadome, Los Angeles' Riot Square, and Long Beach's Lobster Tank - but we felt that Auburn Field's design fits into our city rather well. Of course, since we will be building a brand new version, we will incorporate all the latest refinements."

Motown Miracles owner and GM Cory Muzyka was not on hand for the ceremony, but was reached by phone later in the day for comment.

"The plans that the Vancouver organisation have drawn up are wonderful on paper - if only we could get that kind of deal from the people of Detroit none of the speculation about our future would be happening now."