ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The atmosphere was anticipatory as developers and supporters of a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium came out Wednesday morning to voice support for the project — and the hope city council leaders will approve the plan tomorrow.
"We've always been clear we wanted to be here and we want to be here to stay," Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg said during the news conference. St. Pete city council leaders are set to meet at 11 a.m. Thursday to vote on the broader $6.5 billion project — including a $1.3 billion stadium — for the project to proceed before being considered by the Pinellas County Commission.
"To get to this point is extraordinary," Sternberg said, referencing the two-and-a-half years since the Rays stadium redevelopment was proposed. He also credited the project getting this far to the many partners, businesses and organizations that have shown support and pushed for the Hines Historic Gas Plant District development.
The project has gone through many ups and downs, with St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch sending developers' plans back to the drawing board and restarting the search for a developer. Eventually, Hines' proposal, which includes a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium, was accepted.
But city council members have had to workshop the redevelopment since the announcement was made and plans were released last year, and it has had its fair share of detractors.
"There'll be some missteps along the way, there's no question about it, things change," Sternberg said. "Things move in odd directions sometimes. But understand our commitment is here for the community, our commitment is here for St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay and the entire region."
"We're in a room of believers today," said Chris Steinocher, the president and CEO of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce.
"This is a room where we can smile," he continued. "Take a deep breath, and go 'Okay, we're at the starting line, maybe...if we get there.'"
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Steinocher said St. Petersburg has been involved with baseball for 114 years mainly due to the economic opportunities the industry brings to the area. He reiterated the chamber's "unanimous" support of Welch and city leaders who have pushed for this deal.
"There is no other time where you can be so certain about an economy until when we get this deal," Steinocher said. "Many other markets would love to know where their jobs are going to go, where they can tell their kids what kind of jobs to start training for...that's certainty."
"We have a relationship undeniable in terms of what the visionary development of this stadium and for the Gas Plant development," Oretha Pope, Jr., an NAACP spokesperson said. "There is nothing else in equivalency of the magnitude and the economic impact of this development.
"Our vision, again moving forward, is that we create intentional equity in housing and workforce development in education, in the design and development of Dr. Carter G. Woodson Museum and a host of other intentional measures that would never take place if we didn't have the kind of partnership. Where else are you going to get it?"