CHICAGO -- As Tom Petty once famously wrote and sang, "The waiting is the hardest part" for the White Sox as they attempt to move from Tucson to a facility shared with the Dodgers in Glendale for Spring Training 2009.

Then again, the White Sox have worked closely in conjunction with the city of Tucson and Pima County officials to make this transition profitable and without animosity. As each step in the process moves forward, the White Sox seem more confident in this change of venue coming about before the next Cactus League pitch has been thrown.

The White Sox stand under contract to use Tucson Electric Park and the facility at the Kino Sports Complex as their spring home base through 2012. Short of bringing in another team to replace the South Siders, agreed upon by both sides, the city of Tucson could force the White Sox to remain through the end of this agreement.

Another proposal has been presented by the White Sox, which looks to be gaining strength as a viable option, especially with the White Sox leaving in 2013 regardless of the interim moves. The idea centers on turning the White Sox portion of the Kino Sports Complex into a state-of-the-art facility to host year-round youth baseball competitions.

It's a plan whose economic impact was analyzed through an independent study commissioned by the White Sox from a company named Elliot D. Pollack, and the results of which became public in mid-September. It showed an estimate of a significant $36 million increase in changing from the White Sox to the youth facility.

Those results were presented to the Pima County Board and then given by the board to the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority, with the idea of having some sort of public discussion behind it. The Sports and Tourism Authority was created with the multi-purpose of saving and maintaining Spring Training in the Tucson area while also keeping a strong eye on promoting youth sports.

Via an open forum at the Tucson Convention Center, Public discussion of this matter took place on Oct. 7, the day after Tampa Bay eliminated the White Sox from the postseason. According to newspaper reports, approximately 500 people attended,and those who spoke were in favor of the plan.

"There were a lot of kids, a lot of players, even a team from Nogales [Mexico] had driven in," said White Sox vice president of communications Scott Reifert of the meeting. "Basically, it was a crowd in favor of the proposal."

White Sox senior vice president of administration Tim Buzard joined Reifert in representing the organization at the meeting in Tucson. They were accompanied by gentlemen from the research firm who did the economic analysis, the two men who would run the facility if the plan was put into action and Darrell Miller, the director of Major League Baseball's Urban Youth Academy.

According to Reifert, the next step now resides with the Sports and Tourism Authority.

"Where we are, really, is the ball is in the Sports and Tourism's court to make a recommendation to the board," Reifert said. "The board either can like it -- and we would then have a conversation with the county board -- or it would need something else."

Making the final call could be tough for both the Pima Sports and Tourism Authority and the Pima County Board.

With the Rockies and Diamondbacks able to leave if a third team does not reside in the city, Pima officials are trying to keep Spring Training going in Tucson. The city and county powers also fully understand how the White Sox have made a proposal that would be virtually unmatched by any other elite youth facility in the country, with the team investing somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 million to convert the facility.

The Dodgers begin play in Glendale in 2009. The White Sox hope to join their new spring partner, although they might not know for sure for another month or more. Even at that point, with all the work put behind the current proposal, it still could be rejected.

"We would then be back to square one," said Reifert. "At this point, we feel there has been enough positive conversation that something like that would surprise us. Our leaving has been on the radar since 2006, and we believe we have come up with something valuable for the area that allows us to leave."