Jan. 8--An agreement to build Major League Baseball's second Urban Youth Baseball Academy was announced Wednesday afternoon in Hialeah as MLB, the Marlins and the city of Hialeah held a news conference to talk about the project, which is a component of the Marlins stadium project.
Bob DuPuy, the MLB's president and chief operating officer, Jimmie Lee Solomon, the MLB's executive vice president of Baseball operations, Marlins President David Samson and Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina were on hand for the announcement on the Baseball academy, which will be built on land at the intersection of Northwest 36th Avenue and West 87th Street. "Major League Baseball is committed to South Florida," DuPuy said. "This is an affirmation of our commitment to South Florida."
The building of the academy is in conjunction with a Marlins stadium getting built.
The Marlins have been in negotiations with Miami-Dade County and city of Miami commissioners for a 37,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium at the Orange Bowl site. A vote is expected Jan. 22.
"The academy announcement all came together now," Samson said. "Because we feel we're in a position to very, very shortly deliver to 13 county commissioners and five city of Miami commissioners completed documents for their approval.
"There is no deal obviously without their votes. They are the only votes that matter and this is the vote to end all votes . . . I'm confident when we explain every provision in the deal, when we explain the benefits that are inherent in Major League Baseball and a new ballpark in South Florida that a new ballpark will be there, but I defer as always to the great commission."
The academy -- MLB's second academy after opening one in Compton, Calif., in 2006 -- will have four Baseball/softball fields, a stadium that can seat nearly 2,500 and a recreational center.
It also will have 60 extra acres that will have multipurpose functions, such as a stadium to play football and soccer, an indoor gym for basketball and aquatic centers.
Robaina said the city of Hialeah is providing the land and MLB is putting $3.2 million into the project. Construction is expected to begin in early 2010 and could take up to two years to complete.
"When Mayor Robaina said Hialeah could be a perfect opportunity for an academy, the first thing I did was call Bob and say there is only one of its kind in Compton," Samson said.
"But Florida makes sense. There's got to be an academy in Florida. Obviously, we've got to get the stadium deal done and once that's done with the academy, you put it all together and we are setting this community up for decades and decades."
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