TheMilwaukee Brewers moved their spring training fromTempe to Sun City in 1973,[10] at which time the facility addedclubhouses and another baseball field.[11] At the end of September 1983, theDel E. Webb Construction Company sold the stadium to a construction and development company based inGlendale.[12] The Brewers held spring training games in Sun City through 1985, after which they moved toChandler.[13] The final game the Brewers played in Sun City was on April 3, 1985, a 7–5 win over theSeattle Mariners.[14]
After the Brewers left in 1985, the ballpark was closed and put up for sale.[15] The women's softball team, the Sun City Saints, had disbanded after ownership raised their rent for use of the facility.[16] In 1989, a Glendale-based three-person partnership bought the stadium to use for youth and adult amateur baseball leagues.[15] The following year, the Sun City Saints reformed after ownership allowed them to use the stadium rent-free.[17] Also in 1990, the stadium served as the home ballpark of theSun City Rays of the short-livedSenior Professional Baseball Association.[18] During this timeframe, the stadium became the property of a local bank, which was later absorbed by the federalResolution Trust Corporation (RTC).[18]
In May 1991, a different three-person partnership, incorporated as "Field of Dreams", leased the stadium from the RTC with an option to buy, primarily to host men's amateur baseball; the partnership changed the name of the facility toSun Cities Stadium.[19][20] In 1992 and 1993, theMesa Solar Sox of theArizona Fall League used the stadium as their home ballpark.[21][22] In March 1993, a partnership known as Sun Cities Associates—two of the Field of Dreams partners plus an attorney from New York—bought the stadium for $500,000 from the RTC.[23] Later that year, a closely-linked group, known as Sun Cities Stadium Associates, attempted to get theKansas City Royals to move their spring training to a new stadium that would be built near the existing stadium.[24][25] The effort, along with attempts to attract other major-league teams, proved to be unsuccessful.[26] With no professional baseball tenant for the stadium, and a new baseball facility (Peoria Sports Complex opened in March 1994) located only 6 miles (9.7 km) away, ownership announced in June 1994 that the stadium would be torn down and replaced with a housing complex.[27]
