Game Over! Commission Says No To Sports Park

TAMPA - There weren't enough cheerleaders Wednesday for Championship Park.

Hillsborough County commissioners resoundingly rejected plans for the $40 million sports complex that would have been built in northeastern Hillsborough County.

Only chairman Jim Norman supported continued study of the proposal, which he said would have generated profits for other county parks and attracted tens of thousands of spectators.

'The kids lost today,' Norman said after none of his fellow commissioners offered support.

It was a harsh blow to Norman, who for two years had championed the proposal and was its strongest advocate.

The defeat was so overwhelming, though, that when fellow commissioners asked for a procedural vote to ensure the park was dead and its $40 million was available for other projects, even Norman joined their ranks.

Championship Park died on a unanimous vote.

Wednesday ended more than two years of study and lobbying for the park, which would have had 30 multipurpose fields for soccer, lacrosse and other sports, and 22 fields for baseball and softball.

The project's unpopularity was evidenced numerous times during the commission's two-hour discussion about whether to proceed with the complex.

During public comment, 12 of the 14 people who spoke about Championship Park urged commissioners to reject it.

Commissioners Give Reasons

Each commissioner listed reasons for opposing the plans. Some said its location near the borders of Pasco and Polk counties was simply too far away.

'I fail to see how teams are going to drive 45 minutes or longer to go to a game,' Commissioner Ken Hagan said.

Others cited a lack of adequate roads and other infrastructure in the area, and several expressed doubts the park would ever generate enough money to pay for Hillsborough's investment.

All, with the exception of Norman, balked at the $40 million price tag, saying it was too much money to spend within days of laying off nearly 100 full-time employees. Some commissioners indicated they would not support a scaled-down version of the project, even if it was positioned closer to Tampa.

Even the man who presented the proposal, Plant City Mayor Rick Lott, said there were still too many unanswered questions about the complex for commissioners to support it Wednesday.

'I would be hard-pressed to ask you to approve this park today,' he said.

Commissioner Kevin White summed up the board's sentiments, saying, 'It is not the time for Championship Park.'

During his presentation, Lott gave his firsthand insight into paying and traveling for youth sports. The father of four, Lott said many families wake up before dawn and pay hundreds of dollars to have their children play in youth soccer leagues.

Lott and Norman had wanted more time to study whether Championship Park could succeed, but commissioners had heard enough.

'I don't really understand why we would need to continue to go forward and continue to study this project to death,' White said.

After commissioners refused to endorse the plan, Norman criticized his colleagues, saying he didn't understand why in the past they had supported projects such as the Tampa Bay History Center, The Florida Aquarium and the Tampa Museum of Art.

'People from Idaho are not going to come here and go to the aquarium, but they'll come here for a ballgame,' Norman said.

He said Championship Park would have bolstered the Community Investment Tax, a half-cent sales tax that would have paid for the complex's construction.

The complex also would have aided the county's Parks, Recreation and Conservation program, which recently cut routine maintenance of existing parks because of budget constraints, he said.

Became 'A Jim Norman Thing'

Norman said he thought the project failed because it became too closely associated with him. 'It turned into a Jim Norman thing,' he said.

He was clearly disappointed with the outcome, telling reporters, 'It hurts because I love kids so much.'

Wednesday's defeat of Championship Park will likely touch off a struggle among commissioners about how to spend the $40 million set aside for the complex.

Commissioner Brian Blair said he wanted the money to remain available to upgrade existing parks or build new facilities. 'Our parks are bursting out at the seams,' he said, repeating one of Norman's justifications for Championship Park.

'When you invest in kids, it's that much less you invest in prisons,' Blair said.

Commissioner Al Higginbotham supported Blair's suggestion and said the county should look at building a park on the Sydney-Dover mine site.

Other commissioners suggested dividing the money evenly between each district, allowing it to be spent for whatever projects are needed most.

Asked how the money should be spent, Norman responded simply. 'I have no idea.'

The dollars revert back to the Community Investment Tax, which voters approved in 1996 to pay for Raymond James Stadium and numerous public works projects, including roads, sewers, fire stations and parks.

New estimates show that commissioners will have less of the sales tax money to spend in the coming years. In August, the board was told it had $480 million of the CIT left, but budget officials said last week there may only be about $213 million left.

The money cannot be spent without public input, County Administrator Pat Bean said.