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Caucus Of 15-20 People Will Examine
Financing Options For Rays Ballpark |
Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce President Chuck Sykes Thursday said that the chamber "will spend 2011 studying baseball stadium financing," according to Stephen Nohlgren of the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES. Sykes said that “seventeen years remain on the Tropicana Field contract, but the Rays eventually will leave the area without a new stadium.” He said that “a ‘caucus’ of 15 to 20 people will begin work in a few months and try to present a report by October.” The caucus will “examine stadium projects in other parts of the country to see what financing streams might work in Tampa Bay, with a particular eye toward private funding.” Sykes: “This is a big, complicated, emotionally charged topic. It will never be solved unless we can continue to have a conversation. If we don’t, something real negative could happen and we will be sitting around looking for someone to blame.” Sykes said that the “chamber will steer as clear as it can from specific stadium sites.” Nohlgren notes the Rays and St. Petersburg are “at loggerheads over site selection,” and Hillsborough County officials “are keeping hands off for fear of alienating St. Petersburg.” Sykes wants Pinellas County business executives “to participate in the group.” Beyond ways to raise money, the chamber group “might examine how to scale down the cost of the project.” The ABC Coalition of local business and civic leaders earlier this year “proposed a retractable roof stadium with 37,000 seats that would cost at least” $500M. Sykes said that the chamber “could also examine regional financing ... like an arrangement in Denver, where seven counties chipped in” (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 12/17).
