The Tampa Tribune's Chris O'Donnell has a good scoop out of St. Pete:
Continue reading here.In another attempt to end the deadlock over Tropicana Field, city leaders and the Tampa Bay Rays want to partner in a study on how the Trop site could be redeveloped without a baseball stadium.
The study would be conducted by the Urban Land Institute, a non-profit group regarded as a center of excellence in planning and land-use. Councilman Karl Nurse, one of those pushing the proposal, said it would highlight how redevelopment of the 85-acre site could dovetail with downtown’s expansion. Mayor Rick Kriseman and Alan DeLisle, city development administrator, have also been involved in the discussions, Nurse said. Rays officials have indicated the team would pay part of the cost.
“The intent is to show people this really could be a dramatic redevelopment project for the city but either way you’ve got to start the conversation,” Nurse said. “You can put virtually a billion dollars of redevelopment on there.”
St. Pete's council is scheduled to hold a workshop on the stadium saga this coming Thursday - no word yet if the Rays will attend.
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Excerpted from the referenced article:
ReplyDelete"A ULI study would cost $125,000 — the group’s standard charge for putting together a panel of experts from outside Tampa Bay to conduct a review. In addition to the Rays’ contribution, funds could come from the city or from sponsorship."
'a panel of experts from outside of Tampa Bay' - isn't that always what experts are - folks from out of town?
Hopefully there is a parallel universe where Tampa Bay folks are doing a study for Washington D.C.
Said parallel universe would require decent high school and post-secondary education in the State of Florida. Keep hoping. In the meantime Florida will keep exporting its best young brains and importing Life Alert candidates.
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