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Cubs delay decision on spring training future
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From the concourse of Hohokam Stadium, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith holds a press conference on where the city stands in negotiations with the new Chicago Cubs ownership. Nov. 4, 2009.
Ralph Freso, Tribune
Mesa should know whether the Chicago Cubs want to stay in Arizona within a few weeks, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said Tuesday, adding he initially expected an announcement by now.
The team's new owners visited Mesa the first week of November to review new spring training sites in the face of a competing bid from a Florida developer. Smith said he had counted on getting news shortly after the Cubs' visit to Arizona but now expects a wait.
"I think it's going to stretch out a little bit longer," Smith said.
The Ricketts family bought the team a month ago and already made a trip to look at sites around Naples, Fla., in October. The family plans a second Florida trip Dec. 1 to speak with a developer who is pitching a Wrigley Field-like development, the Naples Daily News reported this week.
The latest Florida jaunt doesn't bother Smith. The Ricketts family seemed pleased with several sites Mesa brought the family to along the Loop 202 Freeway in east Mesa, where landowners are eager to work with the Cubs, Smith said. A new facility would include a larger stadium and extensive commercial development that Mesa can't provide at the current spring training sites in west Mesa.
The Rickettses also visited the Gila River Indian Community during their Arizona visit, as the tribe's economic development officials have spoken with the Cubs.
A new facility would likely cost $80 million, to be funded with a yet-to-be-defined mix of private and government funding. The development would span 120 acres or more and become a major tourist draw with activities planned year-round.
Smith said he's not worried about proposals by Gila River or Florida developers. He figures Mesa has made its best case for extending the Cubs' 60-year history with Arizona.
"If we had a substandard offer I would worry," Smith said. "But we don't have a substandard offer."
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