Tearing down the old baseball stadium at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers has begun.
Workers have demolished part of the building, allowing people to see into the place that had been the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox.
Honc Destruction of Fort Myers is doing the work for just under $1 million, in a contract with the City of Fort Myers. Honc was the low bidder among several companies that formally requested the job. Honc is owned by David Mulicka, who's currently a Lee County Commissioner.
City officials had said some items of possible historic value inside the stadium would be removed before the wrecking ball struck.
The city said Monday that demolition is on schedule. Honc has six months from June 1 to bring down the structures and clear the nearly 14-acre site, according to the city. That means Honc has until the end of November to finish the job. The company has said it will re-seed grass to make the entire site more attractive for future development.
The city said those plans could include new housing, recreation facilities, retail stores and other businesses.
The Red Sox played spring training games at the stadium from 1993 through 2011. During those years the team won world championships and featured star players like David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez. In 2012 the team moved its spring training and other activities outside the city limits to the new JetBlue Park on Daniels Parkway.
Fort Myers tried for years to find other uses for City of Palms, including another Major League Baseball team. But nothing of significant impact materialized, and the city finally decided the property just south of downtown is too valuable to remain under-utilized.
Mike Walcher is a reporter with WGCU News. He also teaches Journalism at Florida Gulf Cost 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.
