No contract yet in hand, but Westminster wants Ravens back in the nest

With rumors swirling that the Ravens may not follow through on their promise to return to McDaniel, Westminster Economic Development Administrator Stan Ruchlewicz set up a way for Carroll County residents to let their voices be heard.

The NFL season is just heating up, but after a year without the Baltimore Ravens in Westminster for training camp — and without the associated economic impact for local merchants — city officials are looking ahead to summer 2012.

And they're hoping the Ravens plan to come back.

At last month's Westminster Fallfest, Economic Development Administrator Stan Ruchlewicz set up "petition" posters — 30-by-40-inch boards — where residents wrote their signatures, notes and comments imploring the Ravens to "come back to your roost."

"We want to make sure they know we want them back," Ruchlewicz said.

Since the Ravens relocated from Cleveland to Baltimore 15 years ago, McDaniel has been the team's training camp home. But the most recent contract was a seven-year pact that expired in 2010.

This year, the NFL lockout allowed the team to keep its options open and there's no deal for McDaniel in 2012 right now.

Ruchlewicz called the lack of a contact his "biggest concern," and said terms of a new deal have been, "taking a while, so the administration decided, let's show them our love."

Over the course of Fallfest, attendees filled nine boards with signatures and messages to the team.

One comment put the sentiments simply, urging the Ravens to "Be as dedicated to Westminster as Westminster has been to (the Ravens)."

Back to the 'old place'?

When the team announced that its 2011 training camp wouldn't be help at McDaniel College, Ravens President Dick Cass said in a statement that the team fully anticipated being back in the summer of 2012.

But Ruchlewicz is concerned that with its options open, the team may look to place camp closer to its Owings Mills' home, perhaps at the new football facilities at Stevenson University, off Greenspring Valley Road.

"There were rumors being spread around that because Stevenson opened their stadium, they'd go back to the old place," Ruchlewicz said.

This season, Stevenson launched a Division III football program, and built a 35,000-seat stadium and other facilities costing a $9 million, according to the Baltimore Sun. The football facilities are on a site that housed a former Baltimore Colts and Ravens facility.

But Westminster has Baltimore football history on its side as well. Even pre-Ravens, the Baltimore Colts used then-Western Maryland College for its training camp, from 1953 to 1971.

For their part, Stevenson officials have denied any discussions about hosting the Ravens.

John Buttner, assistant vice president of public relations for Stevenson University, said there have been "no discussions between Stevenson and the Ravens" regarding the team relocating its training camp to the school's new stadium and facilities.

Buttner couldn't comment on whether Stevenson would be interested in hosting the Ravens in the future, but said the school has "built first-class facilities here and we expect that, because of our proximity to the Ravens facility, there would always be some speculation about that."

Negotiations in progress

The poster boards signed by fans at Fallfest are now in the possession of Ethan Seidel, McDaniel's vice president of administration. He said he plans to deliver them to the Ravens organization soon.

In the meantime, Seidel said McDaniel and the Ravens are working on the terms of another deal that will bring the team back to Westminster.

Seidel said that the parties agreed to revisit the contract discussions after the Ravens finished up their abbreviated camp in September. Those talks are happening now, he said.

"I don't have any reason to believe we won't work things out," Seidel said. "All the issues have been discussed in the past, so I don't think there's anything that either of us aren't familiar with.

"What we're looking at is, preferably, another long-term arrangement so you don't have to renegotiate and if you're going to have a long-term agreement, negotiations are going to take a long time.

"We've had some good discussions, recent discussions," he said, "but it's a work in progress."

Like many other interested parties, Seidel had heard the rumors about Stevenson being involved.

Over the years, he's heard that the team was going to leave for Salisbury University, Frostburg University, and now Stevenson, but he said McDaniel's focus remains solely on the Ravens and the team's needs.

Despite denials from Stevenson and the optimism from McDaniel, Ruchlewicz hopes a deal comes quickly to ease the city's collective mind.

Ravens Public Relations Manager Patrick Gleason said in an email that the team is focusing on its season right now, and will be addressing training camp at a later date.

For Ruchlewicz and much of Westminster, waiting is the hardest part.

"The sooner there's an agreement," Ruchlewicz said, "the happier everyone will be."