City of Palms Park to be demolished for new sports facility

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)—The City of Fort Myers is moving forward with plans to demolish and redevelop the City of Palms Park.

The old baseball field in Midtown is currently the subject of a study to determine what will replace it. Next month, Fort Myers City Council will look to approve a contract to demolish the old ball field that's sat vacant for over a decade.

The city says this will become the site of a giant state-of-the-art indoor sports complex that will bring competition back to the area, along with tourism dollars. The city is working with an Indiana-based company called Card and Associates on a feasibility study to build a 200,000 to 300,000 square foot indoor sports complex at the site.

The plan aims to make the facility a major hotspot for hosting games and tournaments. City Councilman Liston Bochette explained the economic benefits of the project.

"That's a big economic impact because when you have a high school team travelling, the athlete goes, when you have a travel ball team, the grandparents, the cousins, the brothers, they all visit and spend a weekend or a week here, so it's a major impact for the economic resources that we need," Bochette said.

The City Council will look to approve a contract to demolish the park at a meeting in April.