Carpenter Complex Could Get Nearly $3 Million Facelift

It’s a cornerstone Major League Baseball franchise, but when the Philadelphia Phillies' front line players come to train in Clearwater, they don’t expect running water in the weight room.

And, at times, hitters like Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are part of a crowd of hundreds trying to get a spot in one of the undersized batting cages.

A new weight room — with running water — and larger batting cages are part of a $2.9 million expansion of the Carpenter Complex that city leaders are expected to approve at their meeting Thursday. The money would come from general fund reserves.

The Phillies "have been an integral part of Clearwater for some 66 years now," council member John Doran said. "We own the facility; it will be our money we put into it. It is an investment into our own facility."

The city will be reimbursed for some of its costs.

An agreement with the Phillies would pay the city 60 cents on each spring training ticket through the 2023 season. This could be as much as $77,792 a year based on past attendance numbers.

The nearly 45-year-old, four-field complex is part of , where the Phillies play spring training games and where the Clearwater Threshers play during the regular season.

The upgrades at the Carpenter Complex include a 20,710-square-foot building that includes six batting tunnels and a 4,831-square-foot weight room. The 3,420-square-foot north clubhouse will be renovated to include two indoor batting cages, and a covered walkway will be built to connect the southeast side of the clubhouse to the new training building.

The plan will move fencing and sidewalks and replace open air batting cages with landscaping. The project also calls for adding two batting tunnels under the stadium and covered walkways above it.

The project would start in May and be ready by spring training in 2013.

Mayor Frank Hibbard sees the project as an effort to further the city's relationship with the team. Hibbard said the Phillies could have bargained differently years ago when the city and the team helped build Bright House Field, but they didn’t. Most teams threaten to leave, but the Phillies worked to stay.

The city spent about $34 million to build Bright House Field, and the Phillies paid about $12 million, although they were required to chip in only $3 million. Also, although the contract between the city and the team only needed to be 15 years for state funding, the Phillies entered into a 20-year agreement.

“They never put a gun to our head, and they expended more money than anyone,” Hibbard said. “This is a facility that will round out everything at Bright House and something that we need to follow through on."

Leaders hope the seven-decade relationship continues to grow. After all, there are about 12 years left on the lease before it comes up for renewal. 

“As long as the lease is renewed, we’re all looking pretty smart up here. If it isn't, we'll all look pretty dumb,” council member Paul Gibson said. “Hopefully the relationship will contine along the path it has for 65 years. There's nothing to indicate anything to the contrary — that it will continue down the same positive path."