ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As city council listened Thursday to students presenting their ideas of what the Tropicana Field site could look like if the Rays left the area, the local African American community hopes this won’t be a second round of broken promises of prosperity.
"It has always been the case of the city fathers to relocate the African American community to expand the business district,” said the Rev. Wayne Thompson of First Baptist Institutional Church in St. Pete. “I was a young pastor, probably 25 years old, 26 years old, when the city came to talk to the black ministers about signing on for the help of relocating that area, that they were going to bring jobs, they were going to bring businesses to the area.”
Thompson is referring to the historically black Gas Plant neighborhood of St. Pete that was razed in the 1980s to make room for the Trop. He says neighbors were originally told that the land they sold would bring in new business and would help the black community, but that never happened.
“They used that land for the Trop instead of businesses,” he said.
"Black folk, by and large, have always partnered with the city fathers. We have always cooperated with what they wanted for advancement, for betterment and for progress. But what we get on the other end is not always that,” said Thompson, who was born in the Gas Plant neighborhood. His church was relocated to help make room for the Trop.
The latest draft development concept by HKS reimagines the 86-acre space around the Trop if the Rays do not stay. The plan does try to remedy the broken promises of the past, by suggesting the area is renamed the "Gas Plant District."
The plan could also add job training and business development to a mixed-use space of retail and residential areas.
“Those residents have a mistrust that's kind of foundational, and this is a big step in addressing that and creating a relationship of trust and legitimacy,” said city councilman Charlie Gerdes.
Thompson still has some apprehension. “We are not a part of the progressive plan. We are kind of excluded. We are a quiet conversation.”
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