City Owes on Blue Jays Stadium Years After Possible Departure

The end of Dunedin's contract with the Toronto Blue Jays doesn't mean the same for stadium debt.

Recent reports from Toronto and Houston suggest the Blue Jays (along with the Astros) intend to fly the coup for a yet-to-be-built, shared athletic complex in Palm Beach Gardens when their Dunedin contract expires Dec. 31, 2017.

The move could leave Dunedin without a team to show for its stadium and on the hook for roughly $1.48 million in remaining debt.

Although the city pays about $1 million a year on stadium debt, it receives generous support from state grants and county aid.

However, county and the state support for Dunedin to host the Major League Baseball team and its minor league affiliate dries up after 2017, Karen Feeney, city finance director, told leaders during a budget workshop July 8.

The city gets $500,000 from the state and nearly $298,000 from Pinellas County annually, the city's 2014-2015 proposed budget shows.

But those contributions start dwindling in 2016, the proposed budget shows.

Between years 2018 to 2021 the city is on its own. Dunedin will be on the hook for roughly $415,000 a year through 2020, and about $242,000 in the final year 2021.

A renovation of the aging 1977 stadium on Douglas Avenue is part of the city's current 15-year agreement with the team. In the past several years, the team has seen a new clubhouse, training room, weight room and an office built next to the stadium. The team's president cited stadium conditions and proximity to the clubhouse as reasons for leaving Dunedin. 

The city of Palm Beach Gardens is on the verge of approving funds for a new stadium facility that would be shared between the Blue Jays and Astros. 

In the coming year, Dunedin is setting aside about $44,000 for grandstand repairs to old concrete and application of waterproof sealant on the roof at the Englebert Complex on Solon Avenue, where the team trains.

The city has also budgeted $43,400 in the coming year to cover an economic impact study, site analysis, and needs assessment regarding the stadium's future. But it has not yet been approved by commissioners.