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Council Hears From Public On Rays' Stadium
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Published: February 22, 2008
ST. PETERSBURG - More than 100 people spoke at Thursday night's hearing on the Tampa Bay Rays' downtown stadium proposal, with the majority objecting to the project.
An estimated crowd of 200 flooded the city council chambers, which hold 125, and spilled into two other rooms in city hall as well as an adjacent church equipped with closed-circuit television monitors.
Many stadium critics adorned themselves in red - ribbons, buttons, shirts, anything with the color that symbolized stopping the project - as the anti-stadium group Preserve Our Wallets and Waterfront had urged.
Those who supported the stadium plans wore white T-shirts emblazoned with the logo of a newly formed pro-stadium group called Fans for Waterfront Stadium.
By the time the 3 1/2 -hour forum ended at 10 p.m., the council had heard from nearly 110 speakers. About 70 were against the proposal the Rays announced in November to redevelop their current home at Tropicana Field and construct a $450 million ballpark at Progress Energy Park, home of spring training site Al Lang Field, by 2012.
"I think the biggest thing is the Devil Rays heard this tonight," council chairman James Bennett said. "You can talk to us all day long, but I think that message needs to go to the Rays as to how the community feels."
Council members took no action. They will hold two more public hearings, on April 10 and May 22, and a March 6 forum on alternative uses for Al Lang Field before deciding by June 5 whether to authorize a November referendum on a new stadium.
People began arriving at city hall three hours before the hearing so they could sign up to speak. Each had three minutes to share their opinions and were urged to refrain from public displays or outbursts.
One opponent, Caesar Civitella, wore black to illustrate his point that the stadium proposal "will be dead on arrival when residents of St. Petersburg vote in November, assuming the issue is on the ballot."
Other critics said the proposal would harm St. Petersburg's public waterfront and would benefit only the team's owners. They scoffed at the Rays' claim that the project would not cost taxpayers any new money.
"Our economy is in dire straits," Marilyn Hafling said. "We have people losing their homes daily. The best we can do for our homeless is a tent city. Our tax money is needed for many things other than a stadium."
Supporters countered that the Rays' proposal would enhance the waterfront and showcase it to a nationally televised audience. They also said the residential and retail complex proposed for the Tropicana site would generate increased tax revenue for local governments and would create thousands of jobs.
"This stadium proposal is a home run and it will benefit all the citizens," said Dick Ruzicka, a downtown resident. "There's great support for this project."
Rays president Matt Silverman and vice president Michael Kalt attended. They gave assurances that the team would continue to meet with community groups to discuss the plans and answer questions about financing, parking, traffic and environmental concerns.
"There are a number of misconceptions out there," Kalt said. "I think it's largely because we're very early in the process. We don't have all the answers. We will readily admit that to anyone who asks. However, we do think this is a project that has potential for tremendous benefits to the entire city of St. Petersburg."
Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at cmoncada@tampatrib.com or (727) 451-2333.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( bully3 ) on February 22, 2008 at 6:37 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Hey, if there are more job opportunities @ the site of the now Tropicana Field, maybe we won't need more tent cities. The homeless can all get jobs and support themselves. Or maybe they don't want jobs. Perhaps Marilyn Hafling should put them all up at her place. It's been proven time and again that St. Pete can't support a professional anything especially a professional sport franchise. They should take the Ray's out of St. Pete all together, maybe to a larger market like Micanopy, FL. Wake up St. Pete, if you think small you will be small. Enjoy.
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Posted by ( politicalmike ) on February 22, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
The Rays don't bring any extra revenue or jobs with them. Why don't you ask the black people what happened to all their property when they originally built the trop.?
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Posted by ( Ocon ) on February 22, 2008 at 10:20 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
The Rays maybe not directly bring extra revenue or jobs with them, but the people that would visit a destination stadium like this would. Just ask the citizens in dowtown area like Baltimore, San Diego, San Fran..etc. All have brought their downtown areas alive with people and jobs thanks to new stadiums. It called progress and it's sad to see that the majority of the people that are oppose to this, AKA Seniors Citizens, do not undertstand this.
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Posted by ( stephie03 ) on February 22, 2008 at 12:18 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
If you build it, they will come! Oh wait, we are talking about the Rays here, sorry.
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Posted by ( hh ) on February 22, 2008 at 8:22 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Ocon, I'm a young person formerly from a "destination ball town." Let me tell you what downtown baseball stadiums really do for the local economy: nothing. They're using city infrastructure (roads, cops, property) but their spending is completely baseball-oriented (which is fine for the team owners, but of no use to Saint Pete).
They clog the streets with traffic at the last minute before the game, their purchases are confined to baseball souvenirs and beer, and as they clog the roads with traffic on their way home they leave a litter trail and a legacy of bar fights. Seriously, where are all these commuter fans supposed to park downtown? there is nowhere to put them, unless they fill in the harbor and build another parking lot.
Baseball fans are not going to drive in early to visit the museums or the boutique shops on Beach Drive (which would be CLOSED on game days).
Why should the public give away a valuable public park for free when all city zoning and planning ordinances expressly forbid this kind of commercial development on the waterfront? Most of the games will be night games, so why even put it on the water--for the non-existent view? To pollute the starry sky with light? With no air conditioning? In Florida? In summer? Just because the Rays ask?
So the franchise can become instantly more valuable for resale? Bingo. If they have this money to invest, which they don't, why don't they buy some better players and stay where they are?
The owners are not interested in community development nor in developing their team. They want to develop their bank accounts when they cash in this investment. True fans of the players and of the team will oppose this ridiculous proposal.
***
This article fails to capture the scene at City Hall last night. Almost every person speaking in favor of the proposal had a vested financial interest in seeing this deal through. We didn't hear from any baseball fans or community leaders. We had a lot of people in white shirts who stand to get a short term union contract to build the thing. I completely support labor. People need jobs. I need a job. But do short term laborers have the long term best interests of our city at heart? The most laughable argument (repeated at least three times so someone fed this to them) was Saint Pete needed the Trop site to build a mall because people are tired of driving across the bridge for quality retailers! LOL.
I hope the public gets the real story before this comes to a referendum.
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Posted by ( Ocon ) on February 25, 2008 at 9:20 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
You're obviously not a sports fan, and that's ok. So, let the public vote on it. If the people with your view don't want it, at least the Rays can look into moving the team to Tampa or elsewhere. Which, even you have to admit, would not be good for the city. All I'm saying is, it's a shame the people in this town are so negative and non-supportive and can't see the big picture.
By the way, how many games did you atend last year?
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Posted by ( Ocon ) on February 25, 2008 at 10:58 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
HH, the fact that you mention "baseball fans going to boutique shops and museums" I have to laugh. I think we all know where your opinion is coming from.
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Posted by ( bigguye14 ) on February 25, 2008 at 4:49 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)