in Arizona for Spring training. Besides the lights, the grant money paid for a new visitor's clubhouse and an expanded home clubhouse. A lighted McKechnie Field allowed for night baseball and other events, enabling the city to use the ballpark as a catalyst in an area where officials envision an entertainment district. The first night game at McKechnie was originally scheduled for March 7 as the Pirates took on the Cincinnati Reds but the game was rained out. Instead the ballpark's first night game was played on March 19, 2008. The game resulted in a Pirates loss to the New York Yankees, 12–9. Because of the improvements, the Pirates signed a new 30-year lease that went into effect on February 1, 2008. The team is now guaranteed to play at McKechnie Field through 2037, and after playing two night games in Bradenton in 2008 the Pirates will have many more opportunities to play under the lights over the next few decades. Pirates' alumni Bill Virdon and Chuck Tanner have both disagreed on the need for lights, stating their opinion spring training games were meant to be held in the daytime. However the lights would be key to the stadium landing a new minor league team a few years later. The return of minor league baseball McKechnie Field did not host a Florida State League team, since the end of Bradenton Growers era, from 1926 until 2010. From 1989–1990, the Bradenton Explorers of the Senior Professional Baseball Association played at McKechnie. The Pirates' Rookie Level minor league affiliate, the Gulf Coast Pirates, formerly the Bradenton Pirates, currently play their games at the Pirates training facility in Bradenton's Pirate City complex. However, on November 10, 2009, baseball officials voted to allow the Pirates to purchase and uproot the Cincinnati Reds' Class A affiliate, the Sarasota Reds. The team was renamed the Bradenton Marauders and play all of its home games at McKechnie Field. In return the Reds received the Pirates Class A team, the Lynchburg Hillcats. The new Bradenton team began play on April 7, 2010. The inaugural game ended in 18-3 Bradenton victory over the Fort Myers Miracle. 2012–2013: "Fan-friendly" renovations In early 2012, Bradenton officials planned to make a $7.5 million loan to pay for "fan-friendly" renovations to McKechnie Field. The proposed upgrades included new seating, enhanced fan plazas, a boardwalk which would circumnavigate the stadium, a tiki bar, more