Rays Suspend Ballpark Plan To Involve Community In Process
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Silverman, Rays To Include Community
In Planning For New Ballpark |
The Rays "suspended their all-out push for a waterfront stadium Wednesday as community leaders vowed to help the team find the best site for a new ballpark and money to build it," according to Sharockman & Nohlgren of the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES. The team acknowledged that "complex negotiations over stadium construction, redevelopment of Tropicana Field, parking and other issues would be difficult to resolve in time for a November referendum." Rays President Matt Silverman: "The tight timetable and looming November referendum was a constant shadow, a cloud that was looming over the process." No time frame for a new ballpark or possible referendum was set, and the downtown waterfront location "will still be considered along with other sites." Rays officials said that they will "let a group of community, city and county leaders lead the search for a new stadium," and Progress Energy President & COO Jeff Lyash will lead the group. Lyash has not yet named the members of his group, but he said that he expects them to "come from myriad backgrounds around the Tampa Bay area." Lyash added that he "hopes to make considerable progress in a year to 18 months." St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker said that the "location, funding and design of a new ballpark" will be on the table. Sharockman & Nohlgren note the Rays, Baker and other officials yesterday "studiously avoided speculating about where a new stadium might go." Lyash: "I'd be very reluctant to constrain that or enforce limits right now." Lyash later noted the Rays are a "St. Petersburg-based team and a Pinellas County [FL] team and there's a weight that comes with that." Rays Senior VP/Development Michael Kalt indicated that the team is "open to a midcounty site." The team's decision to postpone the stadium vote "solidified during a Sunday meeting at Tropicana Field between" Baker and Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg. Baker yesterday for the first time said that the team "needed a new stadium to remain viable in the long run," and the Rays characterized the plan to involve the community "as a watershed moment." Silverman: "We're excited about passing the torch to the community. We're open to all possibilities" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 6/26).
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Downtown Waterfront Location Will Still Be
Considered As Potential Rays Ballpark Site |
TAKING IT SLOW: In St. Petersburg, Gary Shelton writes, "Did the Rays get closer to their new stadium Wednesday? Or, perhaps, did they get further away?" Shelton: "After months of watching their trial balloon get whacked repeatedly by a legion of voters with red anti-stadium signs in their yards, the Rays really had no choice. For all of the talk about community and coalitions, however, a new stadium remains at the heart of this. Somewhere. Sometime. Some place. And at some re-determined price." Yesterday was a "good day" for Sternberg, as he "merely handed off the responsibility for getting a park built." In doing so, Sternberg "seemed to be aware of the community's feelings." Shelton: "Despite all of the questions, despite the fact that getting a stadium built is always difficult, I think this was the move that will get a new park built" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 6/26). In Florida, Roger Mooney writes the Rays are "wise to use patience on this project." There is a "feeling the Rays were trying to rush this project through the November vote, and, [given] the current economy and, perhaps, the Rays lack of popularity, voters just didn't seem too interested in the idea" (BRADENTON HERALD, 6/26). The TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL's Larry Halstead writes the announcement "takes the pressure off trying to fit the project into a tight timetable" for city leaders. If the coalition and the Rays "agree to build the stadium somewhere other than on the waterfront, no referendum would be necessary and city council could approve the deal by themselves" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/25).
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