Sunday, May 4, 2014

Editorial: Find right site to keep spring training stadium in... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

On again and off again. This editorial from the Palm Beach Post makes it seem like John Prince Park is not being considered as a feasible location for the two MLB teams. So we can all simmer down a little bit. However, the editorial does go on to affirm this important set of facts:
The fact that John Prince Park has been largely ruled out is unfortunate in many respects. Proposing a baseball stadium on parkland was politically perilous. But given the potential benefits for one of the county’s poorest regions, it was worth consideration. County Commissioner Shelley Vana, who represents the area, pushed for the site to be considered because “the Lake Worth corridor really needs a lot of help.”
But the main goal should be bringing the two teams to the most viable site in the county, wherever that may be. The economic benefit of using public money to build spring training stadiums is debatable, but the county has a substantial interest in preserving Southeast Florida’s spring training tradition, both for financial and quality-of-life reasons.
That really is what I have been saying all long. At least Lake Worth is at the table and being discussed in the same sentence as Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter and West Palm Beach. This how the piece begins. Click title for link.
Year after year, Lake Worth and its neighbors to the west — Greenacres, Palm Springs and large unincorporated neighborhoods — are passed over as progress lifts Palm Beach County’s other major regions. When corporations move into the county, they usually look north to Palm Beach Gardens or south to the Boca Raton area. High-status retailers looking to expand — Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, H&M — scarcely give the Lake Worth area a passing glance.