City of Glendale - News

Let's Play Ball!

Governor Janet Napolitano, Glendale city leaders and baseball greats joined forces to break ground for the Valley's newest Spring Training Facility

The spirit of spring - Spring Training baseball, that is - is now officially on its way to Glendale, Ariz., joining a Sports and Entertainment District unparalleled anywhere else.

White Sox and Dodgers team owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Jamie and Frank McCourt; Dodger legends Vin Scully, Jaime Jarrin and Tommy Lasorda; White Sox General Manager Ken Williams; Governor Janet Napolitano; and elected officials from Glendale and Phoenix helped kick off a new inning for Glendale's Sports and Entertainment District at the official groundbreaking of Glendale’s Spring Training Facility on Monday, Nov. 19, 2007. The facility will soon be the new spring home to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.

The venue, which will be located in the city of Phoenix at 10710 W. Camelback Road, marks a unique partnership between the cities of Phoenix and Glendale to bring this new Spring Training experience to the West Valley. A ceremony full of baseball tradition ushered in this new venture complete with the national anthem played by D-backs game regular and famous local musician Jesse McGuire and a seventh-inning stretch. Renderings of the highly anticipated facility were also unveiled, and guests were treated to hot dogs from Glendale’s Dazzo’s Dog House.

In addition to those mentioned above, team owners and representatives from the AZSTA and Rightpath Limited Development Group were also present.

About the Project

The site is located at 111th Avenue, west of the Loop 101 between Camelback Road and Glendale Avenue, and reaches across both Glendale and Phoenix city borders. The two-team facility will be the new home to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, and in addition to state-of-the-art baseball facilities, the site will include, residential, restaurant and retail development, 4-Star hotel and 18-hole golf course, developed by Rightpath Limited Development Group.

Located just across the Loop 101 from Glendale’s Sports and Entertainment District, this project will complement the existing amenities in the area, providing additional venues and entertainment options to an area already expected to generate a regional economic impact of more than $1 billion over the next two years.

This unprecedented project partners two of the state’s largest cities in an effort to benefit an entire region.

It will provide baseball fans, residents and tourists a full array of activities and create economic and tourism opportunities that will make the region’s newest sports and entertainment district like no other in the country.

Based on a 2006 Economic Impact Study conducted by Economic Research Associates (ERA), it is estimated that moving the Dodgers and White Sox will have a substantial economic impact for Glendale, Phoenix and the region. It is anticipated that the economic impact for the region could be as much as $19 million per year.

Details of the project are as follows:

• The10,000-seat stadium, with 3,000 lawn seats, will cost approximately $76 million to build.
• The Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority will provide 2/3 of the funding needed to construct the facility.
• 118,000 sq. feet of major and minor league clubhouses for the two teams.
• Four major league practice fields.
• Eight minor league practice fields.
• Two practice infields.
• The site will include parking to accommodate 5,000 vehicles.