(Naplenews.com)MESA, AZ -- The tour was the first trip to Arizona for owner Tom Ricketts, who joined other family members in two helicopters that flew across the Valley to see existing spring training facilities and potential sites in east Mesa.
Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said he found reassurance in hearing that the family wants more than a stadium from the city. The Ricketts family shares the city’s vision for a development that will attract fans year-round and boost Mesa’s tourism presence.
“We realized that we very much want the same thing,” Smith said Wednesday afternoon.
The Ricketts family is visiting Arizona a week after getting control of the legendary Cubs, and at a time when a Naples group is trying to lure the Cubs.
Mesa hosted a reception of 100 political and business leaders Tuesday evening in a show of support for the Cubs, and Wednesday’s tour capped the family’s introduction to the team’s winter home.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and even Arizona Senator John McCain are pushing to get Ricketts to keep the team in sunny Mesa and say 'no' to rainy Naples, Florida.
Cactus League President Robert Brinton estimates about a quarter of a million Cubs fans live in Arizona.
"Arizona has proved itself as a spring training destination," Brinton said. "This is a Wrigley west community."
"Florida teams are farther apart which means they spend far more time on the buses than the fields," Brinton said. "The managers want the players on the fields."
But keeping the cubs in Mesa Brinton says will mean a new stadium. He says a new stadium could cost $80 million with most of the money coming from outside sources.
"Baseball is an evolution," Brinton said. "Things have changed over the last 20 years. I've seen tremendous changes in the player conditioning and now the fan conditioning."
Craig Bouchard, vice chairman of Esmark Inc., a group working with Fifth Avenue Advisors to bring the Cubs to Collier, Florida said the tour of Mesa is just part of the process.
“I’m not concerned,” Bouchard said. “The Cubs have a really important decision to make ... and they’re going through the process.”
Bouchard said he expects Cubs officials will be making lots of visits to sites in the next few months, but he’s still hopeful.
“If anything,” he said, “we should feel happy the Ricketts came to Naples first.”
“I’m not interested in commenting in what’s happening in Mesa,” added Naples councilman Gary Price. “It’s part of the process, and we’re totally focused on what’s happening here.”
Price, a partner in Naples-based Fifth Avenue Advisors, partnering with Esmark, said the group has made “lots of progress” and there’s “incredible energy in what we’re doing.”
The team likely wants to have new facilities by 2012 or 2013.
“This is completely doable if things proceed in a timely manner,” Smith, Mesa’s mayor said.
Smith said the family revealed few additional details about what kind of facility or deal they want. But the mayor said he felt confident each of the six sites were viable candidates that would work. The locations line the Loop 202 Freeway, from Falcon Field to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
One of the developers who met with the Ricketts family was Rob McNichols, the developer of Longbow Golf Club. He got 15 minutes with the family, who asked questions but didn’t give any clues to their thoughts, McNichols said. He figures the family will first choose the location it finds most desirable, then get into the specifics of a design. Any site is good, he said, adding he’ll support any of the locations.
“If there is a narrowing of the field, I for one will get behind the remaining contenders,” McNichols said.
The six proposals by the respective landowners included many concepts, Smith said, and varied from very detailed to only conceptual. The development would likely be 100 to 140 acres and include hotels, entertainment and shops in addition to the ball fields.
The Ricketts family visit didn’t change Smith’s impression of Mesa’s standing versus Naples, he said. He’s still confident that the new owners will be impressed the city has built three facilities for the Cubs since the 1950s — something no other community has done for spring training.
“If we’re judged on the merits, I think it’s a slam dunk,” Smith said.
No matter what happens, Brinton says fans shouldn't expect a decision anytime soon and Hohokam will be the Cub's Spring Training venue until at least 2012.
Daily News staff writer Jenna Buzzacco- Foerster contributed to this report.
|
