More than 10 companies contracted to work on Spruce Grove’s long-under-construction baseball park have filed construction liens worth more than $4 million for unpaid work and supplies since last year. A historical land title for the Energy City Metro Ballpark obtained by CTV News Edmonton in June, along with an updated title received earlier this month, lists two numbered companies as owners of the property. One is headed by Pat Cassidy, owner of the Energy City Cactus Rats, which plays in the Western Canada Baseball League (WCBL). Cassidy began working to build the ballpark five years ago for the team formerly known as the Edmonton Prospects, when plans emerged for the $50-million development, which also includes a microbrewery, condos and a storage facility. He decided to move the team to Spruce Grove, a city with a population of 44,575 residents located 10 kilometres west of Edmonton, after he failed to secure a lease to play at Edmonton’s Re/Max Field, which the Prospects called home from 2012-19. Construction of the roughly 3,500-seat stadium north of Highway 16A on Pioneer Road began in 2022, but its opening date has been pushed back several times. The Cactus Rats began playing games there in June, but without spectators at the half-finished facility. In the meantime, according to the land title, 11 companies have claimed construction liens on the property. They include Jen Col, the project’s original contractor, which filed a $2.3-million lien in June 2025. A lien is a legal claim placed on property by a creditor to secure payment of a debt, in this case for work or supplies provided. A spokesperson for Jen Col said the company is no longer involved in the project. Asked recently about the land title, Cassidy said the project is a private development and wrote, in part, “while regulatory issues have created considerable delays to project timelines, we remain committed to its completion and to bringing Canada’s next great ballpark to reality.” The province lists public and private projects valued at $5 million or more. Some companies named on the ballpark property’s land title appear to have had their liens discharged, including Jen Col, but only one confirmed to CTV News Edmonton that it has been paid. CTV News Edmonton contacted several companies listed as holding liens on the property, but most declined to comment. Some firms also appear to be taking the ballpark property’s owners to court. The WCBL, a 12-team summer collegiate league in Alberta and Saskatchewan, said earlier this week it will not comment on the Cactus Rats’ situation until after Nov. 15. The league has given the team until then to meet eight “milestones” or risk missing the 2027 season. The WCBL has not said what those milestones are. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nicole Lampa
