Blue Jays' Future in Dunedin: What Others Are Saying

Palm Beach Gardens is keeping a close eye on Dunedin and the future of its relationship with the Toronto Blue Jays, as evidenced by a few recent media reports.

The Palm Beach Post recently sent a reporter to Dunedin to talk to local business owners about their feelings on the Blue Jays, who are considering relocating their spring training facilities across the state when their lease at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium is up in 2017.

“During the season, I bet I get 75 percent of my business from that stadium,” Marguerite Allison, owner of Marguerite’s Cafe & Catering, told the newspaper in a video posted on its website Sunday. “And those folks from Michigan and Canada, they are loyal customers. They come back and bring their friends.”

(Editor's note: The complete Post article is behind a paywall.)

The Palm Beach paper also polled online readers last month on whether they think Palm Beach Gardens should build a new stadium for the Blue Jays and the Houston Astros to share as co-tenants in the spring, and 64 percent answered yes.

The Post wrote that some residents are worried about heavy traffic there on game days, and that "the estimated cost of a stadium (up to $100 million) has raised eyebrows."

Dunedin city leaders say they have been working on a plan to keep the Blue Jays here.

But the team's practice facilities in Dunedin remain separated from Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, where the Blue Jays play their spring games. Most major league clubs have an integrated stadium and practice complex at their spring homes.