- March 28, 2024
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FORT MYERS — Lee County may get a third spring-training baseball team to move here after all.
Lee County government officials restarted negotiations with the Washington Nationals baseball team after Osceola County officials refused to build a new stadium for the team. The Nationals would play in a refurbished City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, formerly the home of the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox last year moved to JetBlue Stadium in Lee County, a new spring-training stadium east of Interstate 75 off Daniels Parkway. The Minnesota Twins hold spring training at the nearby Lee County Sports Complex at the intersection of Daniels and Six Mile Cypress parkways in Fort Myers.
However, county officials say the cost of building JetBlue Stadium and the upcoming renovations to the Lee County Sports Complex limits how much money Lee could spend renovating the City of Palms Park near downtown Fort Myers.
In a statement, Betsy Clayton, Lee County communications director, says: “It's clear to Lee County that this deal cannot be structured the way JetBlue Park and Lee County Sports Complex were. And its success will be much more dependent on a public-private partnership. Public-private partnerships are mutually advantageous arrangements allowing public needs to be met with private funding, construction and operational support.”