Sarasota Losing Reds To Ariz.

SARASOTA - Two years from now, Cincinnati Reds' fans will be able to watch their team play in a brand new spring-training stadium complete with state-of-the-art clubhouses, seating for 10,000, and a party deck.

But those games will not be played in Sarasota.

After five years of failed attempts to build a new or renovated stadium for the Reds in Sarasota, the team's departure to Goodyear, Ariz., became final Monday night.

The City Council there sealed the move with a 6-0 vote to spend $33 million on a clubhouse and practice fields for the Reds.

Council members also approved a 20-year contract with the Reds.

One of the biggest supporters on the City Council declared "Go Reds!"

Vice Mayor Rob Antoniak, who was previously undecided, was still concerned about the city borrowing millions. "I make this decision knowing it will pay off in the long run," Antoniak said. "It may be painful for a while, but I think it will pay off."

The Reds' departure from Sarasota did not happen over night.

During the past few years, Sarasota had a few chances to build a new or renovated stadium to keep the team here.

This time last year, the city put together a $44 million funding package with the county and state. But the Reds insisted on a renovation costing $54 million.

"It has been one thing after another," said Mayor Lou Ann Palmer, who tried to watch the Goodyear meeting, along with Pat Calhoon, the city's stadium manager, on the Internet from an office at Ed Smith Stadium.

Palmer and Calhoon were unable to get the Internet to work there, so they listened to the meeting via a cell phone.

In total, Goodyear and the state of Arizona will pay $108 million to build the new complex, where the Reds will join the Cleveland Indians as the second team to base spring-training operations there.

During a series of last-minute, behind-doors meetings, Goodyear city officials and Reds executive John Allen persuaded the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority (AzSTA) to chip in an extra $22 million for the Reds clubhouse.

Hours before the City Council's vote, the AzSTA board agreed to use an increase in a car-rental tax to reimburse Goodyear for two-thirds of the $33 million cost to build a clubhouse and practice fields for the Reds.

Previously, AzSTA officials said the agency's funds, collected primarily through the car tax, were exhausted for the next 10 years, at least.

Interim Goodyear City Manager Brian Dalke emphasized the estimated $526 million financial benefit from having two spring-training operations in the rapidly-developing suburb of Phoenix.

Dalke said the city should build a shrine to honor the City Council's foresight and vision.

Goodyear officials estimated the stadium would bring an additional 40,000 tourists every season.

Here in Sarasota, the Reds' exit became more and more evident since November.

The last season here for the Reds will be next year.

The City Commission had a chance to support a referendum in which voters were asked to approve a $16 million bond, but commissioners never voted.

In November, residents narrowly defeated the proposal, which would have funded a portion of the stadium rebuild.

The city's hands-off approach was vastly different from other tax issues on recent ballots.

Last spring, the city spent a couple thousand dollars to persuade voters to approve the $50 million police station bond issue on the ballot.

And in the fall the City Commission backed a sales tax initiative for roads, schools and parks that was approved by residents countywide.

Now that the Reds are gone, Palmer said Sarasota officials would immediately intensify the search for another team.

The city is on the verge of finalizing a $41 million funding package, but only two potential teams -- the Baltimore Orioles and the Milwaukee Brewers -- can move to Sarasota in the next few years without breaking a long-term contract with another city.

"We will do whatever we need to do to get another team," Palmer said.

Even as officials court those two teams, they are starting to think about their next plan.

City Manager Robert Bartolotta said he expects to know for sure in a few months if the city will be able to land a team. In the meantime, the city will conduct a study looking into other alternatives.

Those options for the 50-plus acre parcel include: a city-private partnership for a development or using the land for park space.

Another option is for the city to sell the land to the county to build a planned North County Recreation Complex, said Calhoon, the stadium manager.

The county has some funding set aside to buy land for parks.

But for fans at Ed Smith Stadium before the Cincinnati Reds' minor league game Monday, the future of baseball was on their mind.

Patrick Dellavalle sat back, a cold beer in his hand, just as he does every year when he comes down from Lake Placid, N.Y., with his wife and son. His son Nathan, 10, had already collected six foul balls during pre-game practice. "It would be terrible," if the team leaves, Dellavalle said.