Cocoa Expo Sports Center
Coordinates: 28°21′47″N 80°48′10″W / 28.363004°N 80.802861°W
| Location |
500 Friday Road Cocoa, FL 32926 |
|---|---|
| Tenants | |
|
Houston Astros (MLB) (spring training) (1964-1984) | |
The Cocoa Expo Sports Center is a multi-sport complex located near Cocoa, Florida. It was originally built in 1964 by the city of Cocoa as the spring training home for Major League Baseball's Houston Astros (then the Colt 45's).
It was purchased by private ownership in 1984 and turned into a center for amateur sports. The complex, consisting of 70 acres (28 ha),[1] has the original 5,000 seat Cocoa Stadium and 6 additional baseball fields, four multi-purpose athletic fields, a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) arena that can accommodate three basketball courts and four volleyball courts, a 100-room air-conditioned athletes dormitory, cafeteria and meeting space. The 40 acres (16 ha) main section of the property is valued at $3.5 million according to the county appraiser's records.[1]
The center again hosted Major League Baseball in the spring of 1993 when the Florida Marlins played their inaugural spring training season games in Cocoa Stadium. In addition to Major League Baseball, the complex has been home to the Joe Brinkman Umpire School, Clint Hurdle's Big League Experience Camp, youth baseball, soccer, basketball and volleyball tournaments and is the home field for the Cocoa Expos professional women's soccer team.
The center went into receivership in 2011. The state fair, which had been held there for a number of years, moved to another Brevard site.[2]
References
- 1 2 Basu, Rebecca (8 February 2011). "Cocoa Expo investor, bank head to court". Florida Today. Melbourne, Florida. pp. 1A.
- ↑ October 7, 2011 Dave Berman