PORT ST. LUCIE — The New York Mets are on the verge of blowing up their stadium-renovation deal with St. Lucie County and beginning to look for a new spring training home, according to a source with intimate knowledge of the project.

At the center of the newly contentious talks is the cost of renovating 31-year-old First Data Field. The Mets and the county, which owns the stadium, agreed in 2016 on a $55 million renovation in exchange for the team keeping spring training here for 25 years.

Now, with costs escalating, the county has done nothing to stay within the original budget and is demanding more money from the Mets, the source told TCPalm.

The Mets already have committed an additional $2 million to the project, the source said. But on Wednesday, county officials asked the team for another $400,000 for maintenance, the source said.

If the County Commission on Tuesday fails to approve the revised project and financing, the Mets will take back that $2 million, pull out of the agreement and begin looking for a new Florida spring training location, according to the source.

St. Lucie County also would lose a $20 million state grant it received for the stadium renovation.

County Administrator Howard Tipton could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

County spokesman Erick Gill declined to comment on specifics of the talks, but said, "We understand (the Mets') frustration, but we are equally frustrated. We hope to continue to work with the New York Mets. We have to make a compromise that benefits everyone — not just the Mets, but the residents of St. Lucie County."

The project, originally planned to start nearly two years ago, has yet to begin, county officials confirmed.

The county made cuts to the project last summer in order to stay within the $55 million budget, but escalating construction costs have pushed it up again, county officials said.

The original project — with a 360-degree concourse, player-development academy and Little League fields — now is close to $80 million, and the county has done nothing to contain the cost, the source told TCPalm.

With budgetary cutbacks, the project now is only about two-thirds of what originally was proposed, according to the source.

The renovated stadium is part of an agreement the county signed with the Mets in 2016 to keep spring training here until 2042.

In May 2016, the county borrowed $60 million to do the renovations and pay off $5 million in old debt on the stadium. Originally, officials said, construction was expected to start in late summer or early fall 2017 and be completed by now.

Now, the project might not be done until 2022.

“We really want to be under construction this April,” County Administrator Howard Tipton told TCPalm earlier on Wednesday. “But rising construction costs from an improved economy and rebuilding from hurricanes Michael and Irma are driving up costs for materials.”

The county tried in July to control costs by trimming $6 million from the project, scaling back plans for a 360-degree concourse and eliminating planned Little League fields and a player-development academy, which would have included a dormitory, cafeteria and auditorium.

If the project goes over budget, the team's contract requires the Mets to pay those costs or ask the county to continue making cuts, Tipton said earlier on Wednesday.

County Commissioner Cathy Townsend said she's against spending more than the original $55 million earmarked for the project.

"I would like for us to stick to what we said we were going to do," Townsend said.

Commissioner Linda Bartz said she, too, is against spending any more than the original $55 million.

"It would have to be a really strong argument," Bartz said. "We told (county staff and the Mets) going into this agreement that we were only doing $55 million."

The county in March 2017 received $20 million state grant toward the renovations. The loan would be repaid with money from tourist development tax, sales tax, and the Mets' $2 million annual stadium rent.







