Council hasn't had chance to step up to the plate

More than a month after city and Lee County officials talked baseball in Bonita Springs, the City Council still hasn't had a chance to weigh in on the issue.

"I'm not against it, but I want to have a discussion on it before I make up my mind on anything," Councilman John Joyce said. "I could envision the thing being a success, but I'm a long, long way from it going from fantasy to reality."

City Manager Gary Price and Councilwoman Martha Simons met in May with Lee County sports officials to discuss the possibility of building a Major League Baseball spring training facility in Bonita Springs. The next step was to let the seven-member council decide if it wanted the staff to take a serious look at the complex.

The issue was absent from the agenda on June 7, and it is not scheduled to be discussed at the next meeting on Wednesday.

City staff has to do a little more investigating, Price said, but the issue is not going to be discussed Wednesday because the city manager won't be there. Price is on vacation and wants to be present when the council talks baseball.

The staff is researching areas of Bonita Springs that could house an 80-acre spring training facility, and Price wants to know how much money the city is expecting to pitch in.

"It is not a moneymaker, so does the council want to commit money from the general fund or other places for baseball?' he said. "Does the return to us through our businesses ... make it worth it?"

Major League spring training would pump about $25 million into the local economy. The cost of building the stadium complex is about $50 million with another $1.5 million in maintenance for the length of the contract, which typically runs 15-20 years.

Finding the space for the 80-acre complex and purchasing the land would be the biggest obstacle immediately. City staff has done preliminary searching but nothing too extensive.

"I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this if the council doesn't want to take a serious look at it," Price said.

Putting it somewhere near downtown would go a long way toward revitalizing the Old 41 Road area, Simons said.

"We're talking about helping Old 41 grow up; what would be better than a Major League Baseball stadium?" she said. "It's a family event. Take the kids out to see a game; what could be more American than that?"