Officials of the Chicago Cubs said last week they would continue negotiations with Mesa over a new spring training complex in the city, rejecting an effort by Naples, Fla., to lure the Major League Baseball club.
The team and Mesa had set July 12 as the deadline for reaching a memorandum of understanding on the facility, but that deadline has been extended.
Team chairman Crane Kenney said the Cubs listened to the Florida offer, but the team has decided to continue working with Mesa.
“The Cubs are appreciative of the efforts from the Naples team to provide the club with a first-rate spring training facility,” Kenney said. “Despite the opportunity that exists in Naples, for the time being we will continue our work in Mesa to build a new spring training facility there.”
The Cubs have trained at Mesa since 1952.
Naples made the offer to the Cubs after the Arizona Legislature rejected a bond package that would replace the Cubs’ Hohokam Stadium, which was built in 1997.
Mesa has proposed an $84 million financing plan for a new stadium that includes the sale of city-owned undeveloped land in Pinal County and an increase in the city’s hotel tax to 5% from the current 3%.
