Cubs looking at new spring training Facilities

Tom Ricketts and his family just took over control of the Chicago Cubs last week. Their first order of business is figuring out what to do for a spring training facility. The Cubs have been in Mesa for spring training since the 1950s. The Cubs have been where they are now since 1979. With the spring training facility and HoHoKam Stadium being old now and outdated they are looking into other options. The Cubs have been talking with the mayor of Mesa, Scott Smith for a few years now and they have not seen enough improvements for their satisfaction. Scott Smith says they will do whatever they need to because they want the Cubs for revenue, but the Cubs are now getting some good offers by others.

The city of Naples in Florida is making some offers to try and lure the Cubs out of Mesa. They have said on Thursday that they will try and convince the Cubs to move to Naples. Recently Tom and Laura Ricketts have visited the Naples area to look at possible sites there. The Cubs is supposedly looking for a minimum of 120 contiguous acres for a 15,000-seat stadium, six practice fields, parking, and training area. The construction the Cubs would want would take approximately 11 months. The proposal by the city of Naples would have a "Wrigley village" to be a destination and complete area for fans to visit. The offer by Naples is supposed to be competitive with the spring training facility the Chicago White Sox and Dodgers share.

It would be weird for Mesa not to be home for the Cubs during Spring Training.