TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays and the City of Dunedin will seek approval for an $81-million upgrade of the club’s spring training facilities that will keep the team at the only spring home its known for another 25 years.
President and CEO Mark Shapiro and city officials will present the project’s details Monday evening during a public workshop in Dunedin, with an open house Tuesday for residents to ask questions of all involved.
Shapiro, in a brief interview Friday, described the team’s end of the presentation, “as what we want and why we want it.”
From there the plan to renovate Florida Auto Exchange Stadium while rebuilding the entire Bobby Mattick Training Center, which will become a year-round base for the club’s operations outside Toronto, starts moving through the application process for county and state funds.
The Tampa Bay Times, citing city staff, reported Friday that the current framework calls for Pinellas County to put about $46 million, the Blue Jays about $15.7 million, the state about $13.6 million and the city $5.6 million.
Shapiro wouldn’t confirm those figures but suggested they were in the ballpark. He also cautioned against treating the plan as a done deal.
“There’s no deal right now,” he said. “I’d say my feeling now is the same as it was month ago, and that’s positive.”
The Blue Jays’ current lease at the antiquated facilities runs through 2017 and one potential timeline is for the updates to be completed in time for spring training in 2019.
What the Blue Jays will do in 2018 hasn’t been decided yet, said Shapiro, who added that the team could possibly stay put through the construction or explore a temporary move. The priority now was to gain the necessary approvals, he stressed.
The Blue Jays have used Dunedin, Fla., as their spring home since 1977 and run their rehabilitation for injured players and various player development programs from there.
Shapiro’s vision has been for the new facility to serve as a year-round resource for players and staff.
