Phoenix, Scottsdale Sued Over Plan To Use Public Land As SF Giants Facility

A group called "Friends of Papago Park" filed a lawsuit against the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale over the possibility of turning public land into a training facility for the San Francisco Giants.

The group consists of over one hundred people, ranging from hikers and bikers, to runners and photographers, who are all users of Papago Park. The group has been vocal and passionate about saving a piece of land that they consider a state treasure.

Two members of the group took the initiative to sue the cities over the construction of the new training facility on the land located near 64th Street and McDowell Road.

Lasse Norgaard-Larsen, one the the men that initiated the lawsuit, told ABC 15, "I mean, it is one of the most photographed placed I would say in the Phoenix-metro area."

The city of Phoenix leased the land to the city of Scottsdale for 35 years.

"The city of Scottsdale turned it around and leased it out to the San Francisco Giants for a private baseball training facility. Not a stadium, but a private training facility," said Norgaard-Larsen.

The City of Phoenix told ABC 15 that there is a possibility that the area would be used for tournaments in the future. Norgaard-Larsen said, "If you start chipping away at the park well yeah, you'll make a lot of money but there's no park left."

Norgaard-Larsen said that filing the lawsuit against the cities was a last resort for the group, and that they had hoped to be able to sit down and come to a mutual solution with the cities.

For more information about the lawsuit, click here.

Photo: Getty Images

Source: ABC 15