ST. LUCIE WEST
DOING ITS JOB
Anderson was the county administrator
when the Mets’ first spring training contract
was renewed for another 16 years in the
spring of 2003, ensuring that the development’s
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attractor would continue to do its job.
Attendance has been growing since the
county began making a strong effort to bring
families out to ball games with special
themed evenings, discounts and events.
Anderson said several games were sold out
this year. The stadium has 7,000 seats, and a
grassy berm with palm trees overlooking the
field has space for at least 100 more.
The palm trees were placed there at the
insistence of Dave Howard, executive vice
president of business operations for the
Mets, who said seeing them on television
would help encourage northeasterners to
go down to Florida during spring training.
“We refer to them as Dave Howard’s palm
trees,” Anderson said. “We also negotiated a
deal when the contract was renewed that the
county would get a full page ad in every
program they hand out in Shea Stadium.”
Since 2004 the county has spent around $20
West Gate K-8 School is two years old and home to about 1,700 students. The
principal is Robert Cranmer.
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McChesney Park is packed with little soccer players, their parents, and their coaches. The kids race up and down with tremendous enthusiasm to the
cheers of parents on the sidelines.