Polk County commissioners approved Tuesday almost $14.6 million in tourist tax funds to renovate and expand the Detroit Tigers' spring training complex.
The Detroit Tigers have made Lakeland their spring training home for 77 years. That relationship is the longest of its kind in Major League Baseball.
To keep that relationship going past the agreement end date of 2016, Polk County commissioners approved the money to renovate and expand the Tigertown complex.
Polk County's director of tourism and sports marketing, Mark Jackson, said the Detroit Tigers' relationship with Lakeland resembles a marriage.
"For a marriage to survive 77 years, you really have to have a very strong and mutually beneficial relationship over time, and I think that the community has proven that," Jackson said. "The Tigers are comfortable with that."
The renovations will cost an estimated $37 million dollars. The City of Lakeland and a state grant will make up the difference.
