What does Downtown St Pete Need?

[roadtrip75]

Originally Posted by Irishiis49

I really think the biggest issue with any Tampa team is the transplants...the loyalty factor just isn't there...but that's another thread !

The total population here is small. The whole Tampa/St Pete/Sarasota region is around 2.7 million, whereas the Atlanta metro area is double that at 5.5 million.

[cupper3]

Originally Posted by roadtrip75

The total population here is small. The whole Tampa/St Pete/Sarasota region is around 2.7 million, whereas the Atlanta metro area is double that at 5.5 million.

I'm just a snowbird who owns property in the greater Tampa Bay area, and I was pretty sure your number was wrong.

So I went to Wikiknowitall.

Lo and behold, my memory was not failing as badly as my kids tease me about:

The Greater Tampa Bay area has over 4 million residents and generally includes the Tampa and Sarasota metro areas. The Tampa Bay Partnership and U.S. Census data showed an average annual growth of 2.47 percent, or a gain of approximately 97,000 residents per year.

There are ample amount of people to support professional teams. My guess is that the "who cares" factor is creeping in. Fancy new stadiums will not make great teams. Think New York Yankees, and the venue they played in for years, and usually at the top to the league. On the other hand, many people are just not that interested in pro sports anymore.

[jambo101]

What does downtown St Pete need? Some elaboration on that question might be in order,
It has a major league sports franchise, has spring training, lots of bars and restaurants ,parks and bayfront walkable areas,museums, great fishing spots and a place to moor your boat, an airport. IMO it needs nothing, what does the op think it needs?

[JasonAnc]

^Who does spring training in St Pete? The Rays stopped doing it there in 2008. And St Pete is very much in the process of losing the Rays.

Things are definitely looking up, and DT St Pete is my favorite spot in the area these days, but it's still far from perfect.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by JasonAnc

^Who does spring training in St Pete? The Rays stopped doing it there in 2008. And St Pete is very much in the process of losing the Rays.

.

Thanks for the correction, i was having a nostalgic senior moment.


A bit of research shows the stadium was still active last year..
Al Lang Stadium in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida and the Walter Fuller (Naimoli) Baseball Complex in St. Petersburg, Florida

Or maybe they'll tear the stadium down and build condos or a Walmart.
I think the stadium is a major draw to the downtown core,it just has to be managed correctly.
http://tbo.com/pinellas-county/st-pe...dium-20131117/

[JasonAnc]

Yeah, the minor league soccer thing. Which is a horrible stadium for their use, but it's Bill Edwards, who seems to be trying to atone for his past scumbag behavior by being a bit of a philanthropist downtown.

My personal hope there is that after the Rays vacate the Trop in a few years, that a small chunk of that land is used for a new small open air stadium and parking garage. It would be awesome if it was a flexible stadium that could do minor league baseball/spring training and soccer. (There are movable seating sections that can be used for the sidelines)...

And then the long since outmoded Al Lang Stadium, which is a total eyesore on the waterfront at this point, can be knocked down, opening up DT's southern waterfront. I would extend Beach Dr through the middle of the parcel all the way down until it fronts the Dali and Mahaffey (rework their parking lot area too). The west side of the extended Beach Dr can accommodate some new development, like that found on the extremely successful existing Beach Dr, and the east side of the road can be 3-4 more blocks worth of greenspace. One of those blocks would also make a fine spot for the museum Tom James is looking to build in the next few years to host his massive personal art collection. (He's also expecting to put in like $65-75mil to build the building and seed an endowment).

That land would be so hot, the city could easily pay for the stadium demo, the road work and new parks with the proceeds. And there would probably be some left over. (plus the new developments would create several million a year in new property tax proceeds. No need for tax "incentives" in such a choice location either. This is where developers give the community the freebies.)

[jambo101]

Many cities would love to have a sports stadium right downtown. Unfortunately Once they tear it down it will never come back in such a great location.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/floridatrend...02/al_lang.jpg

They could tear down that other monstrosity off in the distance of that link

[JasonAnc]

It was foolish to have a stadium on the waterfront in the first place. It walls off the water for blocks, and is only used a handful of times each year, and is not publicly accessible the rest of the year.