The Brewers will continue to hold Spring Training at Maryvale Baseball Park "for at least another 25 years" after the Phoenix city council yesterday approved a plan for a private-public partnership in which the Brewers would commit up to $63M for a "substantial renovation" of the facility, according to Tom Haudricourt of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. With that agreement, the Brewers "will extend their lease at Maryvale" through '42. With the backing of the city council, the Brewers can "move forward with plans to begin construction immediately after" their '18 Spring Training and have the "expanded and renovated facility ready by the next spring." Brewers Exec VP/Finance & Administration Bob Quinn said, "We're dedicated to putting together a first-class facility, that when our ballplayers show up for 2019 spring training, they walk in and say, 'Wow!'" Haudricourt notes the proposal "includes a financial commitment by the Brewers" of $41-63M, depending on what is "needed to complete the project to their satisfaction." The City of Phoenix will contribute $10M "over a five-year period," as well as an annual $1.4M operating fee. The Brewers will "assume operation and maintenance of the facility," where they have trained since '98. The project will include a "65,000-square-foot clubhouse and office building that would house the major-league and minor-league clubhouses and training facilities as well as administrative offices." The current clubhouse/office building will be "re-purposed, not torn down." The Brewers also will partner with nearby Grand Canyon Univ. to "open a 'learning lounge' in which local high school students would get free tutoring" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 11/16). In Phoenix, Jessica Boehm notes city leaders applauded the proposal as the "'new model' for funding sports facilities." The city will pay the operating fee for 25 years, and $1.4M annually is "about what it spends now on operations" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 11/16).
