Move To JetBlue Park
The Red Sox's lease with Fort Myers runs through 2019, however, team ownership had been toying with exercising the early out in their contract that allows them to leave following the 2009 spring season. Chief operating officer Mike Dee met with Sarasota officials on April 25, 2008 to discuss the possibility of the Red Sox moving to Sarasota's Ed Smith Stadium once its current spring inhabitants, the Cincinnati Reds, move to their new spring home in Goodyear, Arizona.
John Yarborough, director of Lee County Parks and Rec, met with Jeff Mudgett, a Fort Myers architect who is volunteering his time to brainstorm ideas on what can be done to keep the Red Sox in Fort Myers. “I’d like to have a project by 2012,’’ Yarborough said after the meeting.
On October 28, 2008, the Lee County commission voted 3-1 to approve an agreement with the Boston Red Sox to build a new spring-training facility for the team in south Lee County. Commissioner Brian Bigelow was the lone dissenting vote. Commissioner Bob Janes was not present for the vote, but stated that he supported it.
Dee was present in the chambers for the vote, and took the agreement back to Boston to meet with team owner John Henry and other team officials. On November 1, 2008, the Red Sox signed an agreement with Lee County that will keep their spring training home in the Fort Myers area for 30 more years.
Wednesday, April 30, 2009, the Lee County commissioners selected the Watermen-Pinnacle site on Daniels Parkway (a little more than a mile east of Interstate 75) as the site for the new facility. The backup choice, if negotiations between county staff and the developer falter, is the University Highland site just north of Germain Arena in Estero. Jeff Mudgett, a Fort Myers architect who is volunteering his time toward the project, envisions a facility with a mini-Fenway Park that would open for Spring 2012.
County officials have talked for months about the possibility of securing another team for City of Palms with the Baltimore Orioles (who had also been in talks with Sarasota about Ed Smith Stadium, however, declined) leading the list of potential new tenants.
On February 25, 2010, the Boston Red Sox officially released the proposed architectural plans for its new training facility in Fort Myers, FL. The new stadium is to be located just miles from the former site, and will offer fans a more "quaint" version of Fenway Park. The outfield will be an exact copy of the Fenway field, and will contain a Green Monster. However, the stadium will offer a mix of the old Fenway style and a Floridian and modern style. On March 29, 2011, it was announced that the new field would be named JetBlue Park.
Read more about this topic: City Of Palms Park
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