TAMPA – Even though the Rays only backed out of the deal to build a stadium in downtown St. Pete late last week, the battle is already underway over what will be built there next.
Community activists held a rally in front of St. Pete City Hall to make their demands.
St. Pete received an offer for Tropicana Field as activists rallied for the Gas Plant renewal.
What they’re saying:
“Make that property one that belongs to the people, primarily the people that it was taken from,” said Manuel Sykes of the Bethel Community Baptist Church.
The group called Faith in Florida is demanding the 86-acre site of Tropicana Field be geared for descendants of the historic Gas Plant District to finally get access to affordable housing, jobs, parks and healthcare.
“It would actually look like the municipal authorities taking ownership of those solutions and not vesting them in the whim and the will of a private corporation,” said Dylan Dames of Faith in Florida.
Developers are already interested as well.
St. Pete received an offer for Tropicana Field as activists rallied for the Gas Plant renewal.
St Pete’s Blake Investment group wrote a letter the day the Rays backed out, offering the city $260 million in cash not only for the property, but for repairs to Tropicana Field.
Along with $500 in construction, they promise a five-star hotel, and, if they so choose, parks and a museum of African American History.
“There’ll be a lot of interest,” Mayor Ken Welch said when informed of the offer during a press conference on Thursday. “So, I haven’t seen that particular letter, but we’re going to have options going forward.“
MORE: City of Tampa to ‘dust off’ pitch to Rays
The mayor says any development would have to include access to housing and jobs, though it’s not clear whether he considers the presence of an anchor tenant to still be critical.
The other side:
Councilor Richie Floyd, an opponent of the Rays deal, points out the city now has $22 million per year to fix key services and establish housing, parks and new educational services.
“That money has been freed up for us to do everything under the rainbow,” said Floyd. “And I think it’ll be sort of a community process to figure out how we’re going to expand those funds.“
One thing councilor Floyd says he’d like to see is a grocery store, which he says is critical because South St Pete has historically been underserved when it comes to access to fresh food.
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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13’s Evan Axelbank.
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