City of Palms Park is a baseball stadium in
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...
. It served as the
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
home of the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) from its opening in 1993 to 2011. It has hosted
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...
games for
Florida SouthWestern State College
Florida SouthWestern State College (FSW or Florida SouthWestern) is a public college with its main campus in Fort Myers, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. The college has satellite campuses in Charlotte County and Collier Cou ...
since 2014. The stadium's name is taken from the city's official nickname.
History
City of Palms Park was built in 1992 to be the
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
home of the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
. It has a seating capacity of 8,000 people. It was also the home of the Red Sox'
Rookie-level team in
Minor League Baseball, the
Gulf Coast League Red Sox
The Florida Complex League Red Sox are a professional baseball team competing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (FCL) of Minor League Baseball. The team is owned and operated by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior ...
, who played a season lasting from June through August each year.
Player Development Complex
The Player Development Complex is where the Red Sox trained and practiced before the exhibition season began at City of Palms. It also housed all the
Minor League Baseball affiliates and coaches the entire month of March, and it is where players were reassigned as they trimmed the roster down during spring training. Once spring training ended, extended spring training ran from April through the beginning of the Gulf Coast League season. Instructional league took place there from September to October.
This complex includes five baseball fields with bullpens and eight batting tunnels. The clubhouse includes a meeting room, conference room, kitchen, six offices, a players locker room with showers, a trainer/therapy room, a
hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term ...
room, laundry room, an umpire locker room, coaches locker room, and an expanded weight training room that was added in 2004–05.
Red Sox departure
The Red Sox had a lease with Fort Myers for City of Palms Park through 2019, however, team ownership had been considering exercising an early exit in their contract, allowing them to leave following 2009 spring training. On October 28, 2008, the
Lee County commission voted 3–1 to approve an agreement with the Boston Red Sox to build a new spring training facility for the team in south Lee County. That new facility became known as "JetBlue Park",
and in February 2012, the Boston Red Sox moved their spring training operations into the newly constructed
JetBlue Park
JetBlue Park (also styled as jetBlue Park) is a baseball park in Fort Myers, Florida, part of the Fenway South training and development facility.
Opened in March 2012, it is primarily the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox, replacing e ...
at
Fenway South
Fenway South is the spring training base of the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, Florida.
The purpose-built training and player development complex is used year-round by the Red Sox and its minor league farm teams—Worcester Red Sox, Portland Se ...
located on
County Road 876 (Daniels Parkway) in Fort Myers.
Post-Red Sox usage
Lee County has owned the stadium since 2003, when the City of Fort Myers transferred ownership due to the cost of upkeep.
[ Since 2014, the stadium has been used by the baseball team of ]Florida SouthWestern State College
Florida SouthWestern State College (FSW or Florida SouthWestern) is a public college with its main campus in Fort Myers, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. The college has satellite campuses in Charlotte County and Collier Cou ...
, and it is also used for some amateur baseball games.[ The City of Fort Myers occasionally uses the venue for concerts.
In addition to City of Palms Park and JetBlue Park, there are two other spring training facilities in Fort Myers. The Minnesota Twins train in ]Hammond Stadium
Hammond Stadium is a baseball field located in the CenturyLink Sports Complex in South Fort Myers, Florida, United States. The stadium was built in 1991, and underwent major renovations in 2014 and 2015.
The spring training home of the Minnesota ...
on the southern end of Fort Myers. Terry Park Ballfield
The Terry Park Ballfield (also known as the Park T. Pigott Memorial Stadium) is a historic site in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. The park is named after the family who donated the land in the 1920s. For years the stadium hosted Major League ...
(also known as the Park T. Pigott Memorial Stadium) in East Fort Myers is the former spring training home of the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
, Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
and Kansas City Royals. Terry Park has not been used for spring training since 1987.
Possible demolition
The cost to maintain the ballpark each year is $500,000, yet the facility only creates $32,000 in revenue annually. In the fall of 2019, Lee County officials received a request from the City of Fort Myers to demolish the stadium, so the land could be given back to the city for use in a redevelopment project.[
]
References
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Boston Red Sox spring training venues
Buildings and structures in Fort Myers, Florida
Grapefruit League venues
Tourist attractions in Fort Myers, Florida
Sports venues in Fort Myers, Florida
1993 establishments in Florida
Sports venues completed in 1993