Cape Coral’s Mayor is moving ahead with efforts to attract a Major League Baseball team to his city for spring training. Cape Mayor Eric Feichthaler has written a letter to the Cleveland Indians and will send another one to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He wants the teams to consider Cape Coral to host spring training games in February and March. The Fort Myers area already has the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins. Speaking on Gulf Coast Live, Feichthaler said it’s time for the Cape to get some of that prestige so its residents don’t have to cross a bridge to see baseball.

“It will lead to the attraction of some really quality jobs to this city. And again will give us an identity. It will put us into the news. It will bring a tax-base that we clearly don’t have today. And most importantly a place that our kids and our families could use twelve months out of the year for all sorts of projects.”

Feichthaler says he won’t raise taxes for a stadium. Instead he wants the team and the state to foot the bill. Cities have until October to request a special pot of state money to attract baseball teams. Feichthaler says a new stadium could be built at Festival Park.