Published on Friday, April 04, 2008
While Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup and the City Council were saying they sure do hope somebody else can find a way to keep the Colorado Rockies training at Hi Corbett Field, Marana leaders have been talking to the team about a new home in their town.
Before you dismiss the idea, remember where the nationally televised professional golf tournament that began in Tucson decades ago is now played: Marana.
The City of Tucson owns Hi Corbett Field and has leased it to the Cleveland Indians and now the Rockies since 1947, but officials won’t accept responsibility for meeting Colorado’s requests for more office, training and parking space.
The Rockies pay their rent on time and generate great publicity for Tucson.
Thousands of their fans come here every year for days, weeks or even months. They rent hotels, condos, houses, RV spaces and cars. They spend money for meals, drinks, other entertainment, clothing and even real estate and vehicles here.
Why would any landlord turn a deaf ear to tenants like that? Why aren’t city officials leading the charge to provide space for up to 200 players, managers, administrators, trainers and other employees to work here for up to eight months a year?
Tucson officials haven’t offered to invest any of their $1.25 billion annual budget in their pretty but aging facility in Reid Park.
In his hour-long annual state of the city address on Feb. 1, Walkup didn’t mention the benefits of 61 years of spring training here - or the threats to its future.
Only one council member, Shirley Scott, showed up for an appreciation reception March 13 at the Westin La Paloma Resort for the Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox, who all train here.
But Marana’s Mayor Ed Honea and Town Manager Mike Reuwsaat were both there. So was Oro Valley Mayor Paul Loomis. They floated the idea of a northwest home for the Rockies to team officials.
Some Tucson officials attended spring training games this year, and some said nice things to the Rockies’ management.
But they have spent more time encouraging business owners and other governments to raise the money to improve Hi Corbett Field.
Both county and business leaders are moving toward that. The county Board of Supervisors formed the Pima County Sports Authority last week and named a temporary panel to get it started.
But it will take a year or more to gain legislative and voter approval of the authority and money to fund its professional and youth sports improvements. One idea is a half-cent sales tax on restaurants, sporting events and other forms of entertainment.
Meanwhile, the Rockies could stay a few more years, but they can escape whenever Tucson stops hosting three major league teams for spring training. That could be next year, when the White Sox are expected to move from Tucson Electric Park to Glendale.
The county contract calls on the White Sox to find a "suitable replacement" if they leave early. They probably won’t find one.
The county could seek an injunction to keep the Sox here, but there’s no guarantee a judge would grant the request.
Presumably, the White Sox could train and play its real home games in Glendale while sending some lesser players for 15 other "home games" at TEP.
Because of Tucson officials’ disinterest and the successes of Glendale, Goodyear, Surprise, Peoria and other smaller Maricopa County towns in luring spring training teams, Marana might nail down the Rockies before Tucson does.
The bottom line is that whether spring training stays in Pima County will ultimately depend on how hard our local elected officials work for it.
So far, not enough of them are in the game.
Contact Steve Emerine or e-mail comments for publication to editor@azbiz.com. Emerine, a Tucson resident since 1960, has run Steve Emerine Strategic Public Relations since 1994. He is a former local newspaper reporter, editor and columnist and served as Pima County Assessor from 1973 to 1980. He is a regular Monday guest on the John C. Scott radio talk show, which airs from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and from 11 a.m. to noon weekdays on The Voice KVOI 690-AM. This column appears weekly in Inside Tucson Business.
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