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GP Boss: Creativity Might Be Needed

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By TONY FABRIZIO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - If the Rays are successful in building a new stadium on the waterfront, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg could continue to operate in its present site if designers use some "creativity," the event's managing director said Wednesday.

Kevin Savoree, co-owner of race promoter Andretti Green Promotions, said he doesn't think a new stadium - and the relocation of the Salvador Dali Museum onto land used for the competition paddock - threaten the race or mean the course would have to be relocated.

A 1990s downtown St. Petersburg street race ran on a course in the Tropicana Field area. Savoree said moving away from the waterfront with the current race is not an option.

"We wouldn't be interested in being in a dramatically different site," he said. "This race course is recognized worldwide as the premier street race. Why would you want to break that up? This thing gets comparisons to Monaco."

Savoree conceded there would be challenges if the Rays are able to build the 34,000-seat, $450 million stadium they have proposed on the site of Al Lang Field.

For starters, the Bayshore Drive, a prominent feature of the 1.8-mile race course. Stadium plans call for the portion of Bayshore Drive that would run behind the stadium to be rerouted onto new land that would be created by filling 0.6 acres of Tampa Bay.
Bayshore Drive would then run underneath part of the right-field seats, possibly as a pedestrian walkway.

Also, race organizers use a parking lot at Al Lang Field for turns 4, 5 and 6 of the course, some high-end hospitality and the Bright House Family Fun Zone.

"To me, the easier part to resolve is the race circuit," Savoree said. "The harder part to resolve is the footprint. ... It's not a complicated formula. You have a perimeter, and inside that perimeter, you have a footprint. If the Dali takes part of it away and the Rays take part of it away with a baseball stadium, we just have to find ways to gain the footprint back.

"I think with just a little creativity, it's going to fit."

Andretti Green has staged the race the last three years and in May exercised an option with the city to hold it for two more years. This year's event, with features an American Le Mans Series race Saturday and an Indy Racing League IndyCar Series race Sunday, is set for April 4-6.

Savoree said the first "threshold" in determining whether the race goes beyond 2009 is determining whether the space lost to the new Dali Museum can be reclaimed.

"The clearest thing I can say is Andretti Green has a license with the city of St. Petersburg, and it's our intention to do everything possible to have this be a race event in this city for many years to come," he said.

Savoree made his comments after a news conference at which Andretti Green announced Progress Energy Florida as a new corporate sponsor and launched ticket sales. Beginning Friday, tickets can be purchased at (727) 824-7223, Ext. 225; through Ticketmaster; or at www.gpstpete.com.

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