Fire safety violations resulted in the relocation of a young group of aspiring baseball players living at the Homestead baseball stadium
By Christina Veiga
cveiga@MiamiHerald.com
A group of young ballplayers living at the Homestead baseball stadium have been relocated after fire inspectors discovered the stadium’s fire sprinkler and alarm systems don’t work.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokeswoman Griselle Marino said the stadium has been given 30 days to correct the issues, and that no events can be held there unless fire watch is present. Marino said the ballplayers have been moved to hotels.
Fire Rescue, Homestead Police, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and other agencies investigated the stadium Wednesday after reports on the Spanish-language TV station, Univision, said the boys were being housed there with little food or supervision. They were there as part of a baseball program.
Homestead Police Detective Fernando Morales said on Wednesday that DCF had concluded the boys were not mistreated, but a DCF spokeswoman said she could not confirm because the investigation is still open.
Lissette Valdes-Valle, director of communications for DCF, said 17 boys were staying at the stadium, of whom seven were minors. Morales said all of the young men were in the country legally.
The city-owned stadium is leased to La Ley Sports, which in February sub-leased a portion of the facility to Canadian recruiting company Gigantes Baseball Group. La Ley owner, Spanish-language TV lawyer John H. Ruiz, said Gigantes recruits aspiring baseball players from Venezuela.
The city is investigating whether the sub-lease arrangement is a violation of La Ley’s rental agreement.
For more Homestead news, follow @Cveiga on Twitter.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokeswoman Griselle Marino said the stadium has been given 30 days to correct the issues, and that no events can be held there unless fire watch is present. Marino said the ballplayers have been moved to hotels.
Fire Rescue, Homestead Police, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and other agencies investigated the stadium Wednesday after reports on the Spanish-language TV station, Univision, said the boys were being housed there with little food or supervision. They were there as part of a baseball program.
Homestead Police Detective Fernando Morales said on Wednesday that DCF had concluded the boys were not mistreated, but a DCF spokeswoman said she could not confirm because the investigation is still open.
Lissette Valdes-Valle, director of communications for DCF, said 17 boys were staying at the stadium, of whom seven were minors. Morales said all of the young men were in the country legally.
The city-owned stadium is leased to La Ley Sports, which in February sub-leased a portion of the facility to Canadian recruiting company Gigantes Baseball Group. La Ley owner, Spanish-language TV lawyer John H. Ruiz, said Gigantes recruits aspiring baseball players from Venezuela.
The city is investigating whether the sub-lease arrangement is a violation of La Ley’s rental agreement.
For more Homestead news, follow @Cveiga on Twitter.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/26/2770614/stadium-closed-over-safety-violations.html#storylink=cpy
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