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Review Finds Flaws In Rays' Stadium Proposal
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Published: April 19, 2008
Updated: 04/19/2008 12:17 am
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Dozens of changes are needed to shoehorn a new Rays stadium into a busy corner of downtown, including more parking closer to the site and a different location for team offices, says a review of the proposal released Friday by St. Petersburg city staff.
The review, sent to city council members by Mayor Rick Baker, turned up no deal breakers but does say "it may be challenging to accommodate the proposed stadium on the Al Lang site."
It also says the stadium must be redesigned to avoid a piece of property that is subject to a deed restriction the team failed to notice. And it suggests that if the project moves forward, the Tampa Bay Rays should take steps to "encourage national awareness that the team plays in St. Petersburg."
The review was done to help the St. Petersburg City Council decide whether to put the stadium proposal to a voter referendum in November. The council is scheduled to reach that decision by June 5. A council workshop on the proposal is scheduled Thursday.
The Rays submitted a preliminary plan March 11 for moving the stadium from Tropicana Field west of downtown to a bayfront site centered on the team's former spring training location, Al Lang Field, home of Progress Energy Park.
The open-air stadium would have 34,000 seats; "one of the smallest upper decks in major league baseball," according to the city review; and a unique design featuring a retractable fabric roof to shield players and fans from rain and sun.
"When you build downtown ballparks, there are issues in every one of them. You have to build around them and accommodate them," said Michael Kalt, Rays vice president of development and business affairs. "We expected issues to come up, and we're looking forward to working with the city."
Among the changes recommended in the city review:
•Use half a mile, or about six blocks, instead of three-quarters of a mile as the limit on how far fans walk from parking spaces to the stadium. The reason: St. Petersburg's climate, which is hot and humid enough that special measures are being taken to cool the open-air stadium once fans get there.
•Provide more than two entry points into the new stadium to avoid congestion among pedestrians, or at least provide more details about how people would get in to allow for better evaluation of the time it would take.
•Find somewhere else to stage the many buses that would transport fans. Using a planned new city park, as proposed by the Rays, would be too disruptive.
•Put the team offices inside the stadium. A building for this purpose should not be erected, as proposed, on property adjacent to Al Lang that is now part of Progress Energy Center for the Arts. The building would damage the "vista/sense of arrival" at the center.
•Make Bayshore Drive wider when it is rerouted east into Tampa Bay, to accommodate the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The springtime race takes over the stadium vicinity one weekend each spring.
•Consider support columns rather than landfill to raise a portion of the relocated Bayshore out of the Bay - a move the team has told city staff it is considering. This could reduce the amount of fill by a third and minimize environmental impact.
•If further studies show potential harm to balls of oysters living within the project limits, relocate them or place additional balls of oysters elsewhere in Tampa Bay as mitigation.
The deed restriction that was turned up in the city review covers water lots that were conveyed to the city in 1917 by Marguerite Cook. It prohibits structures on upland areas in a portion of what is now the Al Lang site.
The southwest corner of the proposed stadium could be affected by the Cook deed restriction, the city review says.
Neither the Rays nor their architect on the project, HOK, were aware of the deed restriction, the city review says.
"Staff has recently advised the Rays ... and they believe the proposed stadium design can be modified."
Reporter Josh Poltilove contributed to this report. Editor Dennis Joyce can be reached at djoyce@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7604.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( davidkc ) on April 19, 2008 at 7:29 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
This is the worst idea ever. At a time of steep budget cuts, there's no way that taxpayer money should be spent on a new stadium. And it will ruin the character of downtown St. Pete. Reject this now!
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Posted by ( Garryowen ) on April 19, 2008 at 7:31 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
NO! Flaws? What a surprise. Why did it take a 'review' by city staff to discover this amazing revelation? The readers of this and other news sources have been shouting this to all who would listen for weeks. THIS IS A BOONDOGGLE!!!! Flush it down the toilet ASAP.
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Posted by ( PapiOCho ) on April 19, 2008 at 7:51 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I'm still trying to figure out what's wrong with the TROP? Why can't that be converted to an outdoor stadium, if that's what they want?
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Posted by ( zteam55 ) on April 19, 2008 at 7:59 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
The fact city and county officials are even considering this shows just how out of touch they are with those they claim to represent. Reject the plan and stop wasting time on this idiotic proposal and move on the the real needs of this city and county. You remember those needs that government is supposed to provide like law enforcement and infrastucture. (Roads for those of you in Lutz).
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Posted by ( raysfan ) on April 19, 2008 at 8:33 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Even cutting down the distance to 6 blocks or 1/2 a mile is still wayyyyyy too much walking for most of us, especially in the middle of summer. The Trop is perfect, leave it alone and let us continue going there for games for many more years to come.
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Posted by ( DennyPCrane ) on April 19, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
"It also says the stadium must be redesigned to avoid a piece of property that is subject to a deed restriction the team failed to notice." Give me a break here. The rat which owns the Rays knew darn well every thing which concerns this boondoggle. They knew the deed restriction is there and they hoped no one would notice it. The owner is a shark trying to pull one over on the taxpayers. Hopefully everyone will see through this and this plan will die before it goes to a vote.
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Posted by ( LARGO_TOM ) on April 19, 2008 at 10:39 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
In mid-summer give me an air conditioned venue out of the hot sun, bugs and thunder storms. Just what they have now.
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Posted by ( DennyPCrane ) on April 19, 2008 at 10:42 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
As of this morning Rays 7 wins 10 losses, at the bottom of the pile as usual.
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Posted by ( thursby ) on April 19, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Like Culverhouse and the Bucs, the Rays owners want to lose money. They claim they wish to increase awareness that the Rays are in St. Pete. Hah! Everybody already knows that, that's why no one goes to the games. By moving the team to Tampa, or the area between Tampa and Plant City, the team would sell 4 times as many tickets, and 4 times as many of us would go to the games. There are hundreds of thousand of fans out here who have never seen the Rays. Yet the owners would rather stay in St. Pete, lose money, and bankrupt the city as well. Why don't the residents realize this. What business owner would turn down tens of millions in profits, and instead move from one losing locale to another losing locale, does that make sense to you??? The owners have yet to buy even one superstar, they prefer to spend and lose money on an unnecessary stadium. Not only does this strategy doom the Rays, it dooms St. Pete, a city now viewed nationally as the Bucs once were, a city of losers. And a city so in love with itself that it has lost any vestige of common sense. Taking from the poor and giving to the rich, how dumb can people be???
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Posted by ( raysfan ) on April 19, 2008 at 1:12 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Moving the stadium to Tampa might bring more fans to the games, but only if it was still a domed stadium. It isn't any cooler here in Tampa, than it is in St. Pete. I still say the answer is to leave it where it is for now, in our beloved Trop, at least until we have a winning team on the field.
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Posted by ( BrassBowldotOrg ) on April 20, 2008 at 9:15 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
The whole concept of a new stadium is insane. Quit pandering to the team owners. If they pick up and leave, then good bye and good riddance. And don't tell me all about the money a pro team brings into a area. We all know that has been shown to be a untruth. The money goes to the owners. The jobs are minimum wage, and seasonal.
Pro sports is getting like religion. All about money.
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