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Arizona gives Milwaukee Brewers $1 million in corporate welfare! Phoenix throws in another $1.5 million into the corporate welfare rat hole!!!
Board approves $1 mil for Maryvale ballpark to keep Brewers by Peter Corbett - Apr. 19, 2012 10:04 PM The Republic | azcentral.com The Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority board on Thursday approved $1 million in funding for improvements to Maryvale Baseball Park. The money will go to the city of Phoenix, which owns the spring-training complex, for expansion of team offices and weight rooms for the Milwaukee Brewers. The team and city are finalizing an agreement that would keep the Brewers in Maryvale for at least two more spring seasons and possibly for another decade if additional improvements are made. "Absolutely, (the funding) does help us along that path" of keeping the Brewers in Maryvale through 2023, Phoenix Councilman Daniel Valenzuela said. Phoenix will pay up front for $1.5 million in improvements, and the authority will reimburse the city $1 million when the money is available, projected to be 2021, said Rick Naimark, Phoenix deputy city manager. The Phoenix City Council approved the $1.5 million for the project earlier this month. Construction will start this summer to complete the expansion in time for spring training in February, he said. Phoenix plans to add 2,000 square feet of space in the Brewers' 22,000-square-foot clubhouse for major-league players. Another 2,000 square feet would be added to the team's 17,000-square-foot minor-league clubhouse. The Brewers' current weight room for major-league players is 900 square feet. Even with expansion, the Brewers complex will be about half as large as the facilities that the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies each have at Salt River Fields. The Brewers must decide by April 2014 whether to stay in Maryvale beyond the end of that year. The team has a series of one-year options beyond that allowing it to keep playing at the stadium at 51st Avenue and Indian School Road through 2022. Judy Bernas, authority board chairwoman, said this week that "we would all like to see a longer-term agreement with the Brewers." Earlier this year, Valenzuela, who represents the area on the City Council, said he feared the Brewers were playing their last Cactus League season at Maryvale Baseball Park. If the Brewers left, it would be a huge loss to the community because each year the team's fan contribute about $3 million to the local economy, he said. The Brewers, coming off a playoff season, had a per-game attendance average this year of 5,574, an increase of 20 percent over 2011, but below the league average of 7,444. There has been speculation that a Florida city could lure the Brewers to the Grapefruit League or the team would move to Phoenix Municipal Stadium if the Oakland Athletics move to Mesa. The Athletics are negotiating with Mesa for use of Hohokam Stadium after the Chicago Cubs move to a new stadium near Mesa's Riverview Park in 2014. Under the current agreement, the Brewers paid Phoenix $554,509 in rent for Maryvale Baseball Park this year. The team also pays about $50,000 per season for game-day expenses including security, traffic control, ushers, ticket takers and emergency-medical personnel. The Brewers get all the revenue from tickets, concessions, souvenirs, advertising and parking. |