The St. Louis Cardinals have received bad news from Palm Beach County.
The long-hoped-for major renovations to Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Florida may now be “years away” due to decreased tourism tax revenues, according to a report from the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The $108 million project to upgrade the spring training home of the Cardinals and Miami Marlins not only needs both organizations to remain in sync but requires county funding driven by travel and tourism taxes plus state funds earmarked to stop spring training bases from relocating to Arizona.
The major source of the money, county “bed taxes,” were down 20% last year due to the impact of COVID.
This “certainly put a strain on us being able to resurrect (the project) and move forward on this right away,” Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council Director Glenn Jergensen told the Sun Sentinel.
Due to the extended period of time it is expected for the tax stream to replenish reserves, Jergensen predicts that work may not begin until 2025 or 2026 on the renovations to the stadium. These facilities have not received major updates since the complex opened in 1998.
Current plans, which will likely change again in the future given the delay, included removal of the existing clubhouses to add outfield seating (though a proposed 360-degree wraparound concourse was already axed), new clubhouses and the critical year-round team training facilities that are central to them, a new scoreboard and other improvements.
Time may soon be running short. The current lease between the Cardinals/Marlins and the County will expire in 2027, with the tentative agreement calling for the arrangement to be extended 20 years.
In addition to the Cardinals’ six practice fields, the main stadium hosts the Class-A Palm Beach Cardinals (and Miami’s Jupiter Hammerheads). For the first time in 2021, these teams’ home games are closed to the public except on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The rookie-level Florida Complex League plays day games on the back fields.
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