Discussions are still taking place about a potential renovation to Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, spring home of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins, as the teams look to finalize the project.
There has been an effort taking shape over the last few years to upgrade Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, which also serves as the regular-season home of two High-A Florida State League teams–the Palm Beach Cardinals and Jupiter Hammerheads. Progress came the proposal’s way last month, when Palm Beach County commissioners agreed to help fund a scaled-down $108-million plan using tourism tax (hotel/motel) dollars. There is still some work to be done to finalize the plans, but Cardinals ownership recently discussed the vision for the renovations.
The project would result in player facility improvements at the complex, though the ballpark’s fan amenities should be addressed in the process, with an expanded team store among the potential upgrades. Construction could begin at the conclusion of spring training 2021, and be completed by the time the two teams return to begin spring training 2022. More from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cardinals ownership detailed Monday a plan to have a modernized facility in time for the 2022 spring training. They would break ground on the construction project at the end of the 2021 spring training, and some of the plans would call for a demolition of the current building that houses the clubhouse, minor-league clubhouse, offices and training area. The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners approved in December the $108 million plan to upgrade and update the facility shared by the Cardinals and Marlins, and architectural bids are due in the first week of February.
“They’ve tentatively approved some financing, and we’ll participate in that as well,” Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said. “We’re hopeful … of getting some improvements for the facility. It’s more infrastructure. As you all know, it was pretty much state of the art when it was built, but time has gone on and we need additional facilities, weight room …”
“Kitchen,” Bill DeWitt III, team president, interjected….
The Cardinals and Marlins have both lobbied for the new plan, and its focus will be mostly the facilities around the ballpark, though some amenities — a larger team store, fan area in left field — are also being discussed. The goal will be to bring the Cardinals’ spring facility in line with some of the Arizona sites that have new, glistening weight rooms that aren’t stuffed in a corner and have space for the pitching lab the Cubs constructed.
Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium originally opened in 1998, with the Cardinals beginning spring training operations at the facility that year and the Marlins replacing the Montreal Expos in 2003.
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