Tampa Bay to Get New Ballpark?
Despite money woes that have lawmakers scrambling to pay for state programs, Florida Govenor Charlie Crist said that he thinks the state should try to figure out a way to help the Tampa Bay Rays build a new waterfront ballpark in St. Petersburg. But how?
Earlier this month the Devil Rays announced plans for their $450 million open-air, waterfront, downtown stadium. Crist has stated that he will do whatever he can to help the process move along smoothly. He claims that the new stadium will result in economic growth for Florida and create "jobs, jobs, jobs for a lot of people." It seems that argument of new jobs is always used, but as we have learned, not as many jobs are created as people may think.
Currently, the Devil Rays play in Tropicana Field which does have a roof. However, they envision a 35,000 seat stadium on the current site of their spring training facility.
What do you think would be an appropriate way to fund the new stadium? Should they tax cruise-ship passengers and try to put the tax on out-of-town visitors (rental cars, etc) or should they simply just have the citizens pay for it? What about Crist's argument of the new stadium resulting in economic growth and jobs?
2 comments:
Please do your research properly. The Rays' new ballpark will be funded almost entirely by the team, and the value created from the redevelopment of their current site. This value could not be realized without the team's realocation, so its seems very reasonable to divert a portion of that to fund the ballpark. The redevelopment of the Trop site into retail and housing will create thousands of new jobs beyond what the ballpark would create. It would draw visitors from outside the local taxing jurisdiction, which will stimulate economic development. This is not your stadium pitch. It's very unique and could have huge transformative impacts for St Pete.
Typo - Not your "typical" stadium pitch.
Post a Comment