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Public Debates Dome's Fate
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Published: January 10, 2008
ST. PETERSBURG - Armed with maps, charts and markers, the 331 people seated at tables set up in right field talked about what to do with Tropicana Field if it's torn down.
The Wednesday night gathering at the domed stadium was the public's first chance to weigh in on a $450 million proposal by the Tampa Bay Rays to redevelop the 86-acre site and build a new ballpark on St. Petersburg's downtown waterfront.
By the end of the 2 1/2 hour meeting, the crowd reached a consensus on three types of land uses: residential development with affordable housing, retail services and cultural and entertainment uses.
Those attending, including business and civic leaders and politicians, also endorsed three urban design characteristics: pedestrian features with green spaces, midrise buildings with mixed uses and energy-efficient green-building standards.
Some participants, though, later expressed skepticism about the exercise and wondered whether their comments would matter.
"We'll see if we're just spitting into the wind," said Ron Rocks, 64, a St. Petersburg resident since 1972. "I think it's a foregone conclusion between the Rays and the city."
His sentiments came despite Mayor Rick Baker and city council chairman James Bennett making assurances to the crowd that the city has taken no position on the Rays' proposal.
Rays executives, meanwhile, said they have scheduled more than 60 "outreach sessions," many with neighborhood groups, to discuss their plans.
The Rays have hired a Houston-based real estate investment and development firm, Hines Interests, to produce a site development plan. Possible features of the proposal are a massive retail and residential complex of 1 million square feet of commercial space and 900,000 square feet of housing, mainly four- and five-story apartment and condo buildings interspersed with boulevards, ponds and parks.
Most of the funding for the new ballpark, which would open in 2012, would come from money generated by razing and redeveloping Tropicana Field, owned by Pinellas County and leased to St. Petersburg.
The city council will consider public feedback from Wednesday's meeting, sponsored by the city and the Rays, when the council meets Jan. 17 to decide whether to seek proposals from potential developers for the Tropicana Field site.
The council also must approve adding to November's ballot a referendum asking voters to approve the new stadium on the site of Al Lang Field, the Rays' spring training home through March. Construction on both projects would begin in mid-2009.
Outside Tropicana Field, Ben Wiles, 26, of Tampa, and Colin Fiske, 24, of St. Petersburg, held homemade signs that read, "Don't Put the Cart Before the Horse."
They questioned the notion of holding discussions about the dome's fate before voters even approve the new ballpark.
Inside, Joan Martin, 68, held a pink sign that said "Save the Dome."
She also wore a yellow paper necklace that said the same thing.
"Don't tear it down," she said while drifting from table to table. "That's stupid. We don't even have it paid for yet. Are you all crazy?"
Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at cmoncada@tampatrib
.com or (727) 451-2333.
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