OSCEOLA COUNTY REJECTS NATIONALS PROPOSAL

By Space Coast Daily // August 20, 2013

Commissioners vote 4-1 against

KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA – Osceola County Commissioners voted four to one against the proposal to build a multimillion-dollar spring training facility for the Washington Nationals during a meeting this evening in Kissimmee.

Plans presented by Osceola County officials to tourism leaders showed a $98 million complex using county tourism tax dollars. The complex including a 9,000-seat stadium; 10 practice fields for major league, minor league and amateur baseball use; and up to two 200-room hotels on county-owned land about 1.5 miles east of downtown Kissimmee.

One of the strongest teams in Major League Baseball, the Washington Nationals have not made it a secret they would like to leave Space Coast Stadium in Viera, and move into a new, state-of-the-art training complex more centrally located toward central Florida to increase the number of teams they can play during spring training.

The Nationals lease runs through 2017, but can opt out at any time because they have paid Brevard County back for $7 million in construction bonds.

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SEE RELATED STORY:

Nats Spring Training Site Still In Flux