Salisbury City Councilman Scott Maddox announced Tuesday that the joint transaction will lead to a combined $500,000 donation from Food Lion and the Little League to the Salisbury Community Park and Athletic Complex.

The contribution will pay for construction of a baseball stadium and additional Little League field at the new park under construction off Hurley School Road.

The stadium will be named “Food Lion Stadium,” and the two new fields (one will be in the stadium) will be named in honor of the late Edgar Harmon Welch and Clyde B. Mickle Sr.

Salisbury City Council approved the names at its meeting Tuesday.

Rowan Little League will move to those new facilities beginning with the 2001 season. The Little League currently plays at fields and facilities it owns near the Food Lion headquarters off Executive Drive and near Jake Alexander Boulevard.

Food Lion has agreed in principle to buy the roughly nine acres involved. The Little League will use proceeds from the sale, combined with an additional contribution from Food Lion, to account for the $500,000 contribution.

Maddox expected the land deal to be completed by the end of the year. Food Lion’s exact purchase price was not mentioned.

The city needs about $400,000 of the $500,000 donation to build the stadium and additional Little League field. The remaining $100,000 will go toward amenities, such as a concession stand and restrooms.

The community park’s non-profit foundation recommended the names for the stadium and fields Dec. 8. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board agreed with those suggestions Dec. 9.

Edgar Harmon Welch founded the Rowan Little League and dedicated much of his free time to the league between 1954 and 1976.

Welch, a golf professional, operated a sporting goods store on North Main Street for 31 years and had close ties to five local golf courses. He died in 1977.

Clyde Burross Mickle Sr. also dedicated much of his adult life to helping the local Little League flourish. He served many years as a board member and trustee of the Rowan Little League organization.

In 1984, Mickle received optimist International’s “Friends of the Boy Award,” partly for his service to the Little League. Mickle died in 1994.

In another park-related matter Tuesday, council adopted an ordinance that creates a greenway committee of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. The committee will have nine members — as yet not appointed by City Council. Members will serve three-year terms.