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St. Petersburg Considering Life Without Al Lang Field
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Published: August 28, 2006
ST. PETERSBURG - The possibility of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays moving spring training games to Port Charlotte has city, business and civic leaders pondering the fate of what many still affectionately call Al Lang Field.
Perhaps the most certain thing is the prime waterfront site will remain in the public's hands and will not be sold for private development.
Beyond that, it's anybody's guess as to how the property, part of St. Petersburg's vast downtown waterfront park system, would be used.
"I really don't want to prejudge what we're going to do or even leaning toward until we know for certain that they're leaving," Mayor Rick Baker said.
Charlotte County last week endorsed a plan to bring the Rays from St. Petersburg to Port Charlotte for spring training starting in 2009. The $27 million deal hinges on that county securing a state grant. It also will require an increase in the tax charged on hotel rooms and condo rentals. A vote on the tourist tax increase is set for Sept. 12.
A decision on the $8 million state grant won't come until January. That is the earliest St. Petersburg would begin looking at options for Al Lang, Baker said.
Among the possibilities are luring another spring training team or demolishing the storied stadium and turning the land into a park.
"The irony here is that St. Pete was the whole birthplace of spring training as an industry," said Don Shea, president of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership. "And now if the Rays leave town, and unless we'd be able to get another team in for spring training, which I think is unlikely, then we'd be out of that business for a change."
Landing a new spring training team likely would require spending millions to renovate Al Lang, officially known as Progress Energy Park: Home of Al Lang Field.
Cities are building new stadiums or renovating existing ones to keep spring training teams in Florida.
"Presumably, you'd have to do some heavy expenditures," Shea said. "To use it 10 or 15 times a year, I just don't believe that's the highest and best use for waterfront property. Spring training doesn't have to be on the waterfront."
That vantage point, though, is what many baseball fans find so appealing about the 7,227-seat stadium, rebuilt in its current state in 1976. It originally opened in 1947 to accommodate the St. Louis Cardinals, who had been training in St. Petersburg since 1938.
In all, eight Major League teams have trained here since 1914. The stadium is named for the former mayor and driving force behind bringing spring training - and such greats as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial and Ozzie Smith - to St. Petersburg.
Although Shea heads a group that promotes business growth and redevelopment downtown, he said the property should be kept as part of the waterfront park system. To use it for anything other than parkland would require a public vote.
"A publicly owned waterfront park system and waterfront is the single biggest factor that gives us an advantage over any other city in America," Shea said.
The question of what may become of Al Lang is much discussed by people who live downtown, said Tim Baker, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association.
If the Rays vacate the stadium, it would be the latest in a string of changes along the bayfront.
The area just south of the stadium includes a newly renovated Mahaffey Theater, a new home for the Salvador Dali Museum, a new terminal and air traffic control tower for Albert Whitted Municipal Airport and a new 7-acre waterfront park.
To the north, the Museum of Fine Arts is expanding and The Pier, the five-story inverted pyramid of shops, galleries and restaurants, is being reconfigured in a few years.
"Now we throw in Al Lang," Tim Baker said. "We really think it's time to step back and look at that whole waterfront downtown. There's so much going on, but it's all disjointed."
Like Shea, Tim Baker said Al Lang is not being used to its fullest potential. He favors using the site for a recreational purpose.
"You've got this beautiful piece of waterfront property and it's used for parking cars and one month of baseball," he said.
Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 823-3412 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.
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