With no viable adaptive reuse on the horizon despite years of efforts, Fort Myers officials are again contemplating demolishing City of Palms Park, former spring home of the Boston Red Sox.
You can’t argue city officials didn’t overturn every rock to find a new tenant for City of Palms Park, which almost met the wrecking ball in 2019 after the BoSox move to JetBlue Park. A proposed redevelopment plan that would have converted the ballpark to a soccer facility for a USL Championship team fell through, as did talks with other soccer-team owners. Before the Washington Nationals settling on a West Palm Beach move from Viera, city and county officials debated whether to invest in renovations, but the Nats faced the same issues the Red Sox faced in terms of logistics, such as a separate training facility. (That situation also dampened enthusiasm from investors in the thriving youth-baseball scene, which keeps nearby Terry Park hopping much of the year.) Once the Florida SouthWestern State College Buccaneers moved to a new on-campus ballpark in 2023, there was no regular hardball tenant. There was also a proposal to turn the ballpark into a swimming facility, but in the end no proposal had a solid financial plan behind it.
So the City Council is once again debating whether to bring in the wrecking ball. From WINK News:
“The cost to maintain an empty area that is not being facilitated I think does not serve the purpose and I am in full support of demo,” said Councilwoman Darla Bonk.
Other councilmembers said they were open to demolition but want to preserve part of the park too.
“Preserve what was there, and you can create something more magical than just another square building with a bunch of windows and no character,” said councilmember Fred Burson.
Part of the issue is that, quite honestly, City of Palms Park is a relatively undistinguished facility, and while Red Sox diehards may have some fond memories of the team’s tenure there in 1993 and 2011, when players like Mo Vaughn and Roger Clemens were working their way into shape, there’s little to draw in general fans. The interesting parts of the ballpark, such as the Ted Williams statue–who never played there, by the way–were moved to JetBlue Park. City of Palms Park never had a solid Red Sox identity, certainly not to the extent JetBlue Park has.
The 21-acre site, which includes the parking lots and a few other parcels, has been appraised at being worth $2.15 million, and it will cost the city $1 million to tear down the ballpark. City staff is recommending demolition, but the final decision will be made by the City Council.
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