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Where has field house gone? History

The Joe DiMaggio center is razed to make way for youth sports fields.

By MIKE DONILA, Times Staff Writer
Published January 22, 2008

CLEARWATER - Joe DiMaggiowas a legendary baseball player, but in Clearwater, he's going to be associated with football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey, too.

At least along Drew Street.

Demolition of the Joe DiMaggio Field House is finished, and now city officials plan to build two desperately needed youth sports fields in its place.

Clearwater has 18 fields accessible to the public but needs 28, parks and recreation director Kevin Dunbar said.

The new multipurpose fields, which can be used for sports such as football and lacrosse, should open by early summer. Each will measure 120 by 50 yards and can be combined to produce one megafield.

More than 2,500 youth participate year-round in city programs such as football and soccer. But many of the fields have to be shut down for long periods to maintain the turf.

"Any time we can add additional fields to spread out the demand and keep things safe and provide areas for the youth to recreate, then that's a positive thing for the city," Dunbar said.

The field house, which hadincluded a gymnasium, and tennis courts were on the southwestern corner of the Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex, which includes two baseball and three youth soccer fields on about 38 acres at Drew Street and Old Coachman Road.

DiMaggio, the former New York Yankees great whose record 56-game hitting streak in 1941 still stands, helped raise funds for Clearwater for Youth, one of the organizations that in the late 1980s helped build the baseball fields on the complex.

The city initially used the gymnasium for recreation programs beginning in 2000 under a lease agreement it had with then-owner St. Petersburg College. The city bought the 35-year-old building and its surrounding 6 acres in spring 2005 for $1.9-million and incorporated it into the 32 acres Clearwater already owned.

After purchasing the 40,000-square-foot center, the city moved the programs and activities it held there to other Clearwater-owned recreation centers such as Ross Norton and the Long Center.

City leaders said the field house was rundown and would have needed almost $1-million in repairs.

Clearwater spent about $100,000 tearing down the building and will spend another $175,000 on the fields. The money was set aside in last year's budget when finances weren't as tight as city leaders say they are now.

The new fields are not expected to cost any extra money once completed, since the city already maintains the area. And, Dunbar said, they could actually bring in more money, since they will allow Clearwater to hold more events.

Mike Donila can be reached at mdonila@sptimes.com or 727 445-4160.

[Last modified January 21, 2008, 21:31:03]