The old ball park soon will be no more. The Fort Myers City Council has voted to sign a contract to tear down Palms Park. It was the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox during much of the 1990's and early 2000's.
The city spent 15 years trying to find a long-term use for the stadium and surrounding ball fields. The Red Sox moved to JetBlue Park, outside the city limits, for spring training starting in 2012. All efforts to find long-term tenants for the stadium failed. Other major league teams found the facility to be too small and outdated to be used for spring training. Another obstacle was that the minor league practice fields were located two miles away from the stadium.
Monday night the city council considered the final vote to pay HONC Destruction nearly $1 million to tear down the stadium and surrounding fields.
During the meeting Mayor Kevin Anderson said he recently contacted former Mayor Wilbur Smith about demolition. Smith led the efforts to build City of Palms in the early 1990's.
"I did have a conversation with Mayor Smith, and he indicated his feeling is that this (demolition) was in the best interest of the city, and we should move forward with it," Anderson said.
The vote was four to two in favor of demolition.
HONC Destruction has said it will take up to six months to tear down the structures, and then up to another three months to clear the ground and plant grass to make it look nice for future development.
City leaders have said they hope the new development will include housing, small sports complexes and businesses.
The current council has made it clear that redeveloping those 14 acres is key to revitalizing the Midtown area, just south of downtown Fort Myers.
The city has committed money to bring in ideas and plans for what could fill the land, where baseball fans used to gather to watch major leaguers play ball.
Mike Walcher is a reporter with WGCU News. He also teaches Journalism at Florida Gulf Coast University. WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
