Pirates to renovate Minor League complex

PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates' Spring Training ballpark and Minor League complex in Bradenton, Fla., will undergo $18 million in renovations as part of the team's new 30-year lease with the city.

The upgrades include lights and a new visitors clubhouse at McKechnie Field and new offices, dormitories and a fifth practice field at the Pirate City Minor League complex.

About $9 million will be covered by a state-funded program designed to keep teams that currently hold Spring Training in Florida from leaving for Arizona.

Bradenton officials said the upgrades will allow for events other than Spring Training games in March.

McKechnie Field, opened in 1923 and rebuilt in 1993, is one of the oldest ballparks used for Spring Training and has never had lights. For that reason, a Minor League team has never been based at the ballpark.

The Pirates have trained in Bradenton since 1969. They nearly left for Winter Haven, Fla., in 1991. Later that year, the Pirates signed a 20-year lease with Bradenton after the city agreed to the $3 million rebuilding of McKechnie Field.