In its last meeting before the summer recess, the Glendale City Council unanimously approved a deal that will bring spring training baseball to the city of Glendale.
The $80.7 million project is slated to be the spring home for two MLB teams by 2009, without any charge to Glendale residents.
With the approval, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, now look forward to a 12,000-seat stadium with 3,000 lawn seats, practice fields, clubhouses and parking lots big enough to accommodate 5,000 vehicles.
"We were very impressed with Glendale's commitment to build a facility of which the community can be proud," Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said, as he stood before the council. "It's our aspiration that the facility will become a community asset and one that will be used for far more than just spring training games."
The meeting took place June 26 in the Glendale City Council Chambers, in front of a crowd of about 200 people, as well as several media cameras.
Once a small farming community, Glendale has recently become a site for numerous developments.
Last year, Glendale opened a brand-new domed arena, University of Phoenix Stadium, which is going to house the 2008 Super Bowl.
The city's rapid transformation prompted two Glendale residents to speak before the council in order to weigh in on the new facility.
"It's amazing to me what has happened in the last two years … it seems like everything has exploded on the west side of Glendale," 30-year Glendale resident, Tom Traw said. "We were talking the other night, some neighbors and I, about sheep that came down the street and stopped all the traffic … Now here we are in the middle of all this entertainment. It's amazing."
Traw thanked Mayor Elaine Scruggs and the rest of the council for their work in "turning things around" for the Glendale community.
However, fellow Glendale resident Mickey Lund did not share in the sweeping approval. She said "there is reason for concern."
"We lose (the 151 acres that the facility is to be built on) appreciation over the next 10 years. We lose the ability to have it to sell to the highest bidder or to pay off our existing $294 million plus in debt or possibly to a corporation that could bring in more jobs and more revenue, which is what this council has been working to get done," she said. "These are options I know see belonging to both (the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.)"
The proposed facility sits on land owned by Glendale, but lies within Phoenix city limits, so the deal includes a revenue sharing plan between the two cities.
Mayor Scruggs closed the discussion by announcing it was the "right time, right place" to get the deal done.
Reach the reporter at: william.hennigan@asu.edu.
