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The high cost of the majors brings strain to Dunedin
© St. Petersburg Times, For a big-time business, the relationship between Dunedin and the Toronto Blue Jays has been small town. As in casual, easy and good. In recent months, there has been a noticeable strain in the 24-year history of cooperation between the city of 36,000 and the Major League Baseball team that trains there during the spring. They're sparring over the planned renovation of spring training facilities, and it's all about money. This should come as no surprise since we are talking about professional sports. But it has never been like that in Dunedin. It's a place where parents work the Jays' concession stands to make money for civic organizations, like Little League. These days, instead of the good corporate citizen, the team is being seen as a greedy prima donna. The Jays director of Florida operations said he felt the chill in a personal way at a recent City Commission meeting. "No one would sit with me," said Ken Carson, a convivial man who has been in Dunedin for 14 years. The last time Grant Field underwent a big renovation, it was 1989. The price tag was in the $2-million range and the attitude was decidely different -- almost alarmingly casual. To an outsider it seemed like a corny little slice of Mayberry. The city actually started construction before the Jays signed a new lease. It was a matter of trust. Now, they're talking lawsuits over things such as decorative masonry and custom millwork -- in the laundry room. "We don't want your friends to come here and say, "Yuck,' " Carson said. "And you don't want that either." John Lawrence, Dunedin's city manager, ascribes the situation to what he calls the "Legends Field syndrome." Since the New York Yankees got such extravagant new digs in Tampa, every city that has a spring training team eventually is going to face demands for facilities that measure up. Lawrence, who knows well the modest values of Dunedin, says dryly: "I'd like to be driving a Mercedes, but I can't afford it." Carson said the Blue Jays are thinking more along the lines of a Chevrolet. And that points out the crux of the problem: one man's basic necessity is another's luxury. The dispute between the team and the city centers on the contract they signed last December. The document explicitly says the cost of the project is not to exceed $12-million. The rub is that the Jays want elements that will run the bill higher than $12-million -- probably more like $14-million. Lawrence said it's a case of escalating demands. Carson says it is a matter of the costs for a decent facility being underestimated. "We haven't asked for anything out of the ordinary," he said. "The scoreboard they were going to put in there, it wasn't fit for a high school team. We just want what everyone else has." So, Dunedin officials are left to fish around for some extra dollars, which they've been doing. The county, which already is in for $3-million, declined. The city has asked the Jays to pitch in $500,000, which the city also would do. Then, they'd ask the state for a matching million -- all told, enough for the things the team wants. Carson said the team, which has pledged $1.5-million over 15 years, has done enough. When you look around the state, he said, the Jays' contribution compares favorably. The unseemly squabble probably should not come as a surprise, given the financial evolution of the sport during the past decade. But it is a disappointment, which is one of the few things that both sides agree on. Even if the dispute is resolved, it is likely to resurface in another form in the years to come. The reality is, little Dunedin is playing with the big boys now, in an expensive game. The question both city officials and residents will be left to ponder is whether they want to.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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Times columns today Alicia Caldwell Lucy Morgan Sandra Thompson |
