By Scott Craven | The Republic | azcentral.com
The round concrete and brick structure sits by itself in the middle of a now-barren dirt field. Two flights of stairs lead to a 12-foot-high patio surrounded with metal railings, and a circular roof provides shade. It’s not clear what the building’s purpose once was, though it looks like maybe the only survivor of some legendary playground.
In a way, it is.
Half a century ago, the building was an observation tower, with four baseball diamonds arranged around it like leaves on a clover. Each spring, players and coaches arrived mid-February, and major-leaguers like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal.
The Francisco Grande Resort thrives still, but now it depends on golf and soccer to support its unlikely place on the outskirts of Casa Grande. And while thousands of visitors come to the Valley to enjoy spring training, not many know that the 15 teams playing in 10 stadiums from Mesa to Surprise can trace their roots to the hotel and training facility that opened in 1961.
