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The overall plan was approved by the county
commission and city of St. Petersburg officials this summer, but
votes on the funding for the deal had been postponed.
Earlier this month, the St. Petersburg City Council voted to
approve its share of the bonds necessary to build the new
30,000-seat ballpark. Now it's up to the county to decide
whether to issue the bonds, which would be paid for by tourist
taxes that can’t be spent on things such as hurricane recovery.
Under the agreement, the city and county would put up about half
the cost, with the Rays covering the rest, including any cost
overruns.
“We're upholding our part of the bargain,” City Council Chair
Deborah Figgs-Sanders said at a meeting earlier this month. “We
said we were going to do this. We're doing it. Now what you
got?”
The proposal caps years of uncertainty about the Rays’ future,
including possible moves across the bay to Tampa, or to
Nashville, Tennessee, or even to split home games between St.
Petersburg and Montreal, an idea Major League Baseball rejected.
Under the stadium deal, the Rays commit to remain in St.
Petersburg for another 30 years. But the Rays will play this
season in Tampa at the New York Yankees’ spring training site,
Steinbrenner Field, because of hurricane damage to Tropicana
Field.
The proposed stadium is a signature piece of a broader $6.5
billion revitalization project known as the Historic Gas Plant
District, which refers to a predominantly Black neighborhood
that was forced out by construction of the Trop and an
interstate highway spur.
Supporters say the development would transform an 86-acre
(34-hectare) tract in the city’s downtown, with plans for a
Black history museum, affordable housing, entertainment venues,
plus office and retail space — and the promise of thousands of
jobs.
“This is much, much bigger than a stadium,” Pinellas County
Commission Chair Kathleen Peters said at a November meeting.
“It’s about the investment we can make and the return on that
investment that can guarantee we can keep our taxes low.”
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report
for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a
nonprofit national service program that places journalists in
local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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