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Twins present spring-training wish list to Lee County

Hammond Stadium

Player dorms, more seats at Hammond Stadium and infrastructure improvements are on the Minnesota Twins’ wish list for the team’s Lee County spring-training complex.

Opening in 1991, Hammond Stadium and the Lee County Sports Complex are showing their age; once the complex was the state of the art for spring training but now come up short both in terms of what fans and players expect. And while some basic improvements have been made in previous years, the Twins are looking for more. Besides the aforementioned improvements, the Twins are also looking for player-oriented features like whirlpools and fan amenities like elevators.

All told, the Twins’ wish list totals some $20 million in improvements, which could be eligible for a $15-million state grant designed to keep MLB teams training in Florida. Another $5 million in tourism-tax revenues would round out the financing. It’s actually a pretty modest request: the original wish list from the Twins totaled some $60 millionIn exchange, the Twins would commit to a 30-year lease; the current lease expires at the end of the 2020 season.

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