If you’ve been to St. Petersburg, there’s a good chance you’ve visited one of the waterfront museums or taken in the action at the annual IndyCar season opener race.
City officials are looking to build on that with a $289 million plan to boost the arts and sports scene.
The Economic and Workforce Development Committee presented the City Council on Thursday with a two-phased plan to build a “Center for The Arts” downtown. It would involve a major expansion to the Dali Museum, a green promenade area reaching to the waterfront and a new professional music venue.
But it could come at the expense of Al Lang Stadium.
John Curran, a consultant with design firm ASD | Sky, told city council members that the project would generate $445 million over the next 13 years.
Phase two of the plan would see the destruction of the home of the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer team. Curran said the 10,000-seat amphitheater that would come in its place could be used for “any community activity, including the opportunity for outdoor music.”
Multiple council members were excited at the prospect of having a professional music venue, which Curran said would host 40-50 events annually.
“We also saw, potentially, an opportunity to tie the Florida Orchestra into that,” Curran said.
While Council Chair Copley Gerdes thought the plan was “gorgeous,” he wasn’t sure about tearing down the stadium.
"I'm struggling with totally removing Al Lang Stadium, which is 80 years old, with a massive amount of history,” he said. “Especially when we're contemplating the future of the Historic Gas Plant (District)."
When the Tampa Bay Rays walked away from the deal to build a $1.6 billion stadium, it left the city of St. Petersburg without a partner for the $5.6 billion Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment.
Gerdes said it was important to balance the costs of the Arts Center with their promises to the Gas Plant project, which was also supposed to feature a new concert/entertainment venue.
Curran also proposed an alternative plan to keep and renovate Al Lang Stadium, which could be used as an entertainment venue while keeping the Rowdies.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies are owned by Stu Sternberg and the Tampa Bay Rays.
Phase one of the Center for the Arts proposal has a $161.7M price tag and focuses on Curran’s question: “Once you remove the (Mahaffey Theater’s) garage and build a new one, what could this area be?”
Set to be complete in the next five years, phase one would feature:
- A new garage in place of the theater’s current one. It would accommodate 1,100 parking spaces and 20,000 square feet of ground-level retail space.
- A new 60,000-square-foot conference center.
- An up to 50,000-square-foot expansion of the Dali Museum, which is expected to double its economic impact in the decade after the project is completed.
Phase two of the project would run from 2028 to 2038, and cost approximately $127.5 million.
- An additional 400 parking spaces on top of the 1,100 in the new garage, with additional surface parking.
- Demolish Al Lang Stadium.
- A new multi-use amphitheater with 3,000-4000 covered seats and 6,000 lawn seats.
Council member Corey Givens Jr. appreciated the amount of green space included in the plan, but asked for local artists to be highlighted through things like temporary exhibitions in the promenade area.
The green walkway could also serve as extra paddock space for the annual Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, providing the potential to add more teams to the race.
Keeping the race track intact and taking the Grand Prix’s needs into consideration was one of Curran’s priorities, but he said he wanted to do so with “little to no trouble” to the other stakeholders.
The plan is in its preliminary stages and is set to be reworked with city council feedback. Eventually, the city will also ask for community input.
