NFL brothers part of group deciding Midtown Fort Myers direction

Bill Smith, Fort Myers News-Press
Updated ·2 min read
City of Palms Park in Fort Myers on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. The City of Fort Myers is entertaining proposals on Thursday to bring in athletic teams to use the facility.
City of Palms Park in Fort Myers on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. The City of Fort Myers is entertaining proposals on Thursday to bring in athletic teams to use the facility.
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The city of Fort Myers has turned to a development team, that includes former NFL players native to Fort Myers, to lead a sports centered re-orientation of the city's Midtown section.

With its first focus on City of Palms Park, Ohio-based Steve Demetriou, managing partner of PitchPrime Partners, a Cleveland-based development group, led a team of sports-oriented businesses in scoring council's approve Thursday.

They convinced the Fort Myers City Council to endorse its proposal to center on development of a wide range of athletics-oriented activity.

While soccer is the initial objective, Fort Myers native and NFL powerhouse Jaylen Watkins is a partner in the group.

Speaking on the PitchPrime effort, he told the city council that he has wanted to come back to his hometown, but has been stymied by what he says is the lack of an adequate training facility.

City of Palms Park, built as a spring training home for the Boston Red Sox only to see the team exercise an escape from its contract to move spring training to JetBlue stadium in 2013, would be renovated to create multiple soccer fields in an effort to lure more consumers and residents as part of Fort Myers' efforts to upgrade Midtown.
City of Palms Park, built as a spring training home for the Boston Red Sox only to see the team exercise an escape from its contract to move spring training to JetBlue stadium in 2013, would be renovated to create multiple soccer fields in an effort to lure more consumers and residents as part of Fort Myers' efforts to upgrade Midtown.

PitchPrime and its partner, Scythe LLC, also centered in Cleveland, will lead the effort to create a sports-driven renascence. Council members chose them over three other groups.

Demetriou is familiar with Southwest Florida, with a home in Collier County.

The Midtown area is within Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, U.S. 41, Edison Avenue, and Central Avenue.

PitchPrime to research possibilities

One of the beneficiaries of the PitchPrime-led effort will be a football training academy led Watkins and his brother, Sammy Watkins, whose local football careers led to stints in the National Football league.

City of Palms Park in Fort Myers may be revitalized as part of the city's efforts to improve the midtown section. The ballpark could become the centerpiece for an active soccer program which would include a Fort Myers team participating in a soccer program created by Major League Soccer for players working their way up.
City of Palms Park in Fort Myers may be revitalized as part of the city's efforts to improve the midtown section. The ballpark could become the centerpiece for an active soccer program which would include a Fort Myers team participating in a soccer program created by Major League Soccer for players working their way up.

PitchPrime will spend several weeks researching possibilities before initiating development.

Soccer will be a focus, starting by using the former City of Palms Park stadium, which will be rebuilt to include soccer fields with spectator seating.

The fields are to encourage players at multiple levels to play teams from other parts of the state and beyond. Members of the developer's team described the soccer concept as one that would be filled with games, with popularity building on itself.

Creation of a soccer league — likely the MLS Next Pro League for up-and-coming players, would include competition with teams from Miami, Orlando and ultimately Jacksonville, in addition to the local entry.

It's seen as one way to build an audience as intrastate rivalries create increasing interest.

Options could recreate neighborhood into sports center

City of Palms Park in Fort Myers' may become the centerpiece of a city-led effort to upgrade Midtown.
City of Palms Park in Fort Myers' may become the centerpiece of a city-led effort to upgrade Midtown.

For example, the city Skatium, an ice skating and hockey facility nearby, is expected to expand to a second "ice sheet," doubling its capacity and increasing the ability to serve teams and families.

Other possibilities for the long haul include creating a multi-sports complex for pickleball enthusiasts, creating more opportunity to participate in a sport that has grown in popularity.

Four companies were invited to Fort Myers to make presentations.

The city had eyed potential investments, including mixed-use development, a key feature of the city's goal of developing the Midtown section into a mixed-use development that would stimulate more housing and businesses.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Midtown development takes a step forward in Fort Myers