USSSA Space Coast Complex

USSSA Space Coast Complex is a baseball stadium and 13 diamond multi-sports facility in Viera, Florida, owned by Brevard County, Florida. Under its original name, Space Coast Stadium, it served as the spring training facility for the Florida Marlins (1994–2002), Montreal Expos (2003–2004), and Washington Nationals (2005–2016) and as the home field of the Brevard County Manatees (1994–2016). After a full year of renovations, it officially reopened in 2017 with its new name as a baseball/softball venue – part of a new multi-sport complex operated by the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA). Since 2017, it has been the home field of the USSSA Pride women's professional fast-pitch softball team. Since 2018, Viera High School has used the stadium for varsity baseball games and its annual graduation ceremonies.

History

Construction and opening

Space Coast Stadium was completed before the 1994 Major League Baseball season as part of a plan to bring the Florida Marlins to Viera for spring training. Ground was broken for the new stadium in what had been a pasture on April 29, 1993, The Nationals contracted to make annual $765,000 stadium-construction bond payments through March 2013.

Space Coast Stadium was the home of the Brevard County Manatees, a minor league baseball franchise that played in the Class A-Advanced Florida State League, from 1994 to 2016. The Gulf Coast League Nationals of the Gulf Coast League, the Washington Nationals′ rookie league affiliate, also played occasional home games at Space Coast Stadium during the Washington Nationals′ tenure there.

The Florida State League All-Star Game was played at Space Coast Stadium three times. In the first game, on June 22, 1996, the 6,904 people who saw the game set a record for attendance at the annual league all-star game that stood through at least 2015. In the second game, held on June 14, 2008, the West Division prevailed over the East Division by a score of 9–3 with 3,402 fans looking on. The game was played the third and final time at Space Coast Stadium on June 12, 2010, with the South Division defeating the North Division 5–4 in 10 innings before a crowd of 4,133.

With a crowd of nearly 18,000 people in attendance, U.S. President George W. Bush held one of his final campaign rallies for the 2004 U.S. presidential election at Space Coast Stadium on October 23, 2004, arriving and departing in his Marine One helicopter. It was one of four campaign stops he made in Florida that day. In 2011, the county assessed the stadium site as having a value of US$26.5 million.

Departure of the Nationals and Manatees

The Washington Nationals held spring training at Space Coast Stadium for the last time in 2016. The team's last game at the stadium was a 7–2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on March 27, 2016. The Nationals′ last scheduled game at the stadium on March 28, 2016, was rained out, resulting in the cancellation of activities planned to commemorate the franchise's history there. In 2017, the Nationals moved their spring training operations to West Palm Beach, where they share facilities with the Houston Astros at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, a facility which opened in February 2017.

The Brevard County Manatees also departed after the 2016 season, playing their last game at Space Coast Stadium on September 4, 2016, losing to the Daytona Tortugas 6–4 before a crowd of 1,573. The Manatees relocated to Kissimmee, to begin play in 2017 as the Florida Fire Frogs.

USSSA Space Coast Complex

The departure of the Nationals and the Manatees after the 2016 season left Space Coast Stadium without a tenant. With the assistance of the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners, the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) moved into the stadium and the surrounding spring training fields, moving its headquarters from Kissimmee to Space Coast Stadium and announcing plans to renovate the entire complex, using US$22 million of its own and US$10 million contributed by Brevard County. USSSA plans to make the complex into an all-turf venue that will host a variety of sports and sports tournaments — advertised by USSSA as "the youth sports capital of the world" A groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation project took place at Space Coast stadium on April 27, 2017.