The Mesa Historical Museum is proposing a $17-million Arizona Spring Training Experience, Museum and Community Center, with voters potentially deciding on the project in a November referendum.
Funding would be part of $147.5 million bond referendum that also includes public safety department spending and infrastructure improvements.
The Mesa Historical Museum has sponsored several spring-training exhibitions throughout Mesa and Phoenix with the Play Ball! banner, under temporary circumstances. From the East Valley Tribune:
The final project voters could approve is the Arizona Spring Training Experience, Museum and Community Center —a $17 million facility that would display 4,000 pieces of baseball memorabilia and double as a community center for the city. Mesa Historical Museum CEO Lisa Anderson said the project would more than a traditional museum, and councilmember Dave Richins compared the proposal to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum in Ohio.
City manager Chris Brady said the project was known as the Cactus League Experience, but Anderson said the organization opted to change the name to attract a broader audience….
Mayor Scott Smith said the way the historical museum is trying to get funding for the project is unique, as he said it’s uncommon for non-city organizations to request bond funding. Despite its distinctiveness, as well as concerns from council members about specific operational details about the project, Smith said the museum is “important enough to give people a chance to say ‘yea or nay’ on.”
Image courtesy of Greey Pickett.
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