Politics, Rays Will Both Be in Play for Atlanta Braves Spring Training Proposal
A spring training complex plan for the Atlanta Braves includes a 10,000-seat baseball stadium, 15,000-seat indoor arena, 20,000-seat track-and-field venue, swimming pool center, hockey rink, hotel and dorm, and apartment and retail space. POPULOUS
[ Ed. note – Yesterday, we reported on a proposal that aims to create a sports park in Pinellas County, Florida – one that would also bring the Braves to a new Spring Training home by 2018.
Today, there’s some further information about how that proposal might be playing among that County’s politicians, and we’ll defer to Tampa sources for this information – with some emphasis added by us. ]
Group eyes Pinellas Toytown site for Atlanta Braves’ spring facility
STEVEN GIRARDI / TAMPA BAY (TRIBUNE) ONLINE.COM
… [snip – much more at the link above ] …
The SportsPark group envisions a $662-million international professional and amateur sports complex that would include the Braves and possibly a second Major League Baseball team for spring training.
The group includes Echelon, the real estate development firm led by Darryl LeClair, who in 2012 proposed building a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays in the Carillon area not far from Toytown. It also includes the Gary Sheffield Sports Foundation, SportsWise Partners, and the Braves.
The SportsPark proposal has athletic facilities including a 10,000-seat baseball stadium, a 15,000-seat indoor arena, a 20,000-seat track and field venue, a swimming pool center and a hockey rink. It also has 210,000 square feet of hotel space, 695,000 square feet of dormitories and apartments, and 164,000 square feet of retail.
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News of the baseball complex on Tuesday caused some concerns for St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, who has been in stadium negotiations with The Tampa Bay Rays. The team wants to leave Tropicana Field before its lease with the city expires in 2027.
The St. Petersburg City Council is deadlocked 4-4 on a proposal by Kriseman to let team explore other locations, and the mayor said the SportsPark project likely will seek the same tourist tax money that could help to build a new Rays ballpark.
“So yeah, I have some concerns regarding the impact it could have and the fact that we have had no movement with the council to move the ball forward — to know whether we’re going to need funds for a Rays stadium,” he said.
He said he remains in contact with Rays ownership, and the sides have agreed to halt talks until the baseball season ends.
City Councilman Karl Nurse said the proposal “reinforces the need to get the Rays discussion off [top] dead center.”
“You really don’t want to end up funding a spring training facility for the Atlanta Braves without considering what you’re doing with the Rays and how does this impact them,” he said. “Eventually you sort of close the door to options for the Rays.
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Rick Vaughan, the Rays’ vice president of communications, said the team had no comment on the proposal.
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SportsPark anticipates the project will generate $800 million in annual revenue and create 3,361 permanent jobs.
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Pinellas officials decided to seek proposals for the former landfill in the spring to gauge potential interest even though the site has about 25 years of buried trash that could complicate development and require some mitigation or trash removal. The landfill closed in the mid-1980s and the county spends about $750,000 a year on maintenance.