by Lynh Bui

The Arizona Republic

The grass isn't grown and players are still chilling in this, the off-season, but spring fever has sprung in Goodyear.

City leaders and top brass from the Cleveland Indians celebrated finalizing details that finance a new spring training facility in Goodyear.

With the smell of hot dogs wafting through the air, the City Council unanimously approved on Wednesday an intergovernmental agreement with the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority that will pay for half of the $75 million spring training facility.

City staff and developers have kicked into high gear to have the stadium ready for the first pitch by March 2009.

"Today we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work. Ladies and gentlemen of the staff, failure is not an option," Goodyear Mayor Jim Cavanaugh said about delivering the project on time.

Larry Dolan, owner of the Cleveland Indians, and his son Paul, president of the team, flew to the Valley for the festivities.

"This is a great, great day for the Cleveland Indians and the Dolan family," Paul Dolan said after presenting the City Council with a stack of Indian's T-shirts. "We very much look forward to a 20-year-plus relationship with the city of Goodyear."

Hours after the party in Goodyear, the board of directors for the sports authority approved the same intergovernmental agreement. The sports authority's approval was the final step in the process of landing a spring training complex for the city, short of designing and building the facility.

The Cleveland Indians agreed last September to start spring training in Goodyear, but deal hinged on getting the sports authority to help finance the stadium.

The 10,000-seat stadium and spring training fields will be part of a mixed-use development called Ballpark Village. The stadium is planned for the southeast corner of the future Goodyear City Center at Estrella Parkway and Yuma Road.

Surprise resident Jan Meyer came to the meeting in Cleveland Indians gear to celebrate the historic day. Meyer, 61, has been an Indians fan since he was 6 years old and remembers going to his first game in Ohio when he was 10.

"I grew up listening to their games on the radio and watching them on TV," said the former Ohio resident. "I watched them when they played in Cleveland Municipal Stadium and then Jacobs Field. Now I get to watch them in Goodyear."