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Sarasota, Red Sox End Spring Training Relocation Talks

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Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: October 14, 2008

Updated: 10/14/2008 02:04 pm

SARASOTA - Seven months of talks between Sarasota and the Boston Red Sox to bring the team's spring training facilities here came to a halt late Monday night.

The city and county ended negotiations with the team for an estimated $59 million stadium and spring training complex that would have brought the team here after 15 years in Fort Myers.

City Manager Robert Bartolotta said formal negotiations that started three weeks ago reached an impasse when the two local governments couldn't settle on an agreement with the World Series champs over how much the team would pay toward a stadium project.

"There were three big issues: capital costs, operating and maintenance costs, and capital improvements," Bartolotta said this morning. "We worked real hard to bridge those gaps."

"We were unable to reach an agreement," he said.

The recent economic climate dealt a blow to the deal, the city manager added.

The credit crunch has made it difficult for local governments to borrow money, and local officials were concerned about the timing of trying to take out a $45 million loan.

The most recent concept had the city bonding about $45 million that would be backed by taxes collected on hotels and rental condos throughout the county.

Interest rates on government bonds have risen sharply over the past few weeks and would have driven up the cost of the project.

"With the financial uncertainty, we had to take a more conservative stance," Bartolotta said.

On a positive note, Bartolotta said the past months have shown how the two local governments can work together on large-scale projects.

"The city and county worked closely," Bartolotta said. "The history has been they don't always see eye to eye."

What about major league spring training in Sarasota?

The possibility is not entirely out of the picture, Bartolotta said.

The city and county said it will continue its search to replace the Cincinnati Reds, who will move their spring training facilities in 2010 from Sarasota's Ed Smith Complex to Goodyear, Ariz.

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