Mets Plan to Shift Spring Training to a New Complex

The New York Mets, whose only spring training base has been in St. Petersburg, have announced the team will shift spring headquarters to Port Saint Lucie in 1988.

A new 100-acre complex, to be located 55 miles north of Palm Beach, will be built for the National League club. The facility will include a 5,000-seat stadium, five other baseball fields and an Astroturf infield.

“This was simply an offer we could not run from,” said Nelson Doubleday, the Mets chairman. “As much as we regret leaving St. Petersburg and the fine people we have worked with there the Port Saint Lucie County option was so attractive we couldn’t pass it up.”

A 15-year agreement, which runs through 2002 with a club option to renew, was announced by the county and the Mets, along with the Thomas J. White Development Co.

Since their inception in 1962, the Mets have made St. Petersburg their spring training headquarters. The Mets share the St. Petersburg facility with the St. Louis Cardinals and will remain there in 1987.