Another memory to file away: demolition of Compadre Stadium, the former Chandler spring-training home of the Milwaukee Brewers, has begun.
The ballpark opened in 1986 as spring home of the Brewers, replacing the team’s home in Sun City. It was only home to the Brewers until 1998, when the Brewers shifted spring operations to Maryvale Baseball Park. (Yes, the team fulfilled the terms of the original 10-year lease; the Brewers moved after Chandler officials passed on making requested upgrades to the ballpark and to the spring-training complex. The ballpark and the complex cost only $1.6 million.) Since then the ballpark itself has remained intact but mostly unused; the team’s practice fields were converted to city parkland.
So when a developer approached Chandler officials with a plan to make over 65 acres near Alma School and Ocotillo roads with over 300 homes and townhomes, the city moved ahead with the rezoning. Demolition has begun and should be wrapped up shortly:
“It’s kind of sad,” said Johnson. “It’s a landmark that’s going goodbye, but things change.”
That change will happen over the next four or five weeks. Standard Pacific bought the property for its latest development.
Soon a neighborhood will rise where a crowd once stood to cheer. The former spring training home of the Milwaukee Brewers will eventually become home to families.
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