FLORIDA
WEST COAST
Opinion by:
E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author:
In
Search of Robin
Generally, baseball consists of three seasons, there's spring training, the regular season and the playoffs, including the World Series.
However,
in Saint Petersburg the Tampa Bay Rays baseball season includes a 4th edition.
It's the season of baseball, that asks the question, "How the Rays and
their organization want to deal with the Tropicana Field issue and where the
team will end up playing."
This
4th baseball season probably most aptly titled, "Where will the Rays really
go," plays out as the Rays organization suggests oftentimes strange
solutions to the team’s historic low attendance problem.
It's
always been amazing how poor the attendance at Tropicana Field continues to be.
Regardless of how well the team does or does not do the Rays attendance figures
tend to linger significantly below all of baseball's average figures for
attendance.
Former
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said decades ago, “This (St. Petersburg) is
just not a major-league baseball market.” His words still hang over Tampa Bay
Baseball like a dark cloud and especially so if you are being asked to pony up
a ton of money for a new stadium.
Suggestions
from the Tampa Bay Rays organization have ranged from pleas for a new stadium
to the continuing saga of a split season between Montreal and somewhere in
Tampa Bay.
Check
out from the Tampa Bay Times By Charlie Frago: Tampa Bay Rays seek to open minds on Montreal while clock
ticks.
The
idea of a split season has been an ongoing saga for the Rays for the last few
years.
Now
there is a new plan for a site in Tampa, the Kforce site in Ybor city, taking
center stage. See the Tampa Bay Times by: Charlie Frago and C.T. Bowen Published
Oct. 4 Rays’ ballpark plans focus on former Kforce site in Ybor
City.
Once
again, as in all these stadium site deals, this one appears pretty interesting.
Since the concept now seems to be leaning toward a new stadium in the Bay area
along with a new stadium in the Montreal area both open air and both a little
bit smaller. Finally, some common sense is starting to prevail.
Referring
back to the Bud Selig comment above, the question still lingers is the Bay Area
even a 1/2 season Major League Baseball market?
It
will be interesting to see, if Hillsborough County, Tampa, and the big-money
players in the Bay Area are willing to go along with a 41-game season for the
cost of a small stadium.
Regarding
the Tropicana Field site in Saint Petersburg, the most interesting development
recently has been the sudden interest on the part of the University of South
Florida in participating in the redevelopment discussions for the property.
Just in
case you missed it, here is a report from the Tampa Bay Times By Divya Kumar USF tells Kriseman it wants a seat at the table for
Tropicana Field redevelopment.
In a
letter to St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman, interim President Rhea Law and regional
Chancellor for the St. Petersburg campus, Martin Tadlock said, “The concept of
a Tech Campus as part of the development of the Tropicana Site is a major
opportunity for our university,” the letter said. “We are committed to working
closely with the City of St. Petersburg and the selected developer in the
fulfillment of these major economic opportunities. The importance of workforce
development, higher education, medical research and innovation are all key
factors in our decision to participate in this process.”
I have
long been in favor of moving the Tampa Bay Rays out of the Tropicana Field site,
and a complete redevelopment of that area focused on the next two or three
decades.
There
are a lot of competing voices for a piece of the pie in the redevelopment of
the Tropicana Field site, but those decisions should not be based on attempts to
mitigate past social ills but on a significant look to the future.
Saint Petersburg’s
new mayor, whomever he may be, needs to think carefully about the approach to
the redevelopment of the Tropicana Field site. A new fresher look at
development options and not just a strict adherence to the plans developed by
the current Kriseman administration.
While fraught
with political issues from the Board of Regents all the way down to the Saint
Pete City Council, the involvement of USF could really put the future look on
this development.
I
think the last thing Saint Petersburg needs downtown is a meandering district
of high-rise condominiums and apartment buildings focused on increasing
population density, as opposed to a focus looking at developing a center of commerce,
living, and education for the future.
E-mail
Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend
request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER @DOC ON THE
BAY.
See
Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.
