St. Petersburg has quietly kicked off a formal search for experts to figure out whether a downtown convention center really makes sense, and one of the prime spots on the table is the 86-acre Tropicana Field/Historic Gas Plant property. The study is expected to spell out the potential economic impact and what size and style of facility would actually be realistic for the city.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the city is now accepting proposals from consultants to run that analysis. The outlet reports the review would cover how a convention center might be designed and what kind of overall economic ripple effect it could have.
Why the Trop site is in play
The convention center talk got fresh life after the Tampa Bay Rays withdrew from a planned $1.3 billion ballpark, leaving the 86-acre Gas Plant tract available for other ideas. The team’s decision to walk away, which came amid storm damage and financing delays, was widely reported by the Associated Press last year.
Developers and tradeoffs
Developers pitching plans for the Historic Gas Plant District have floated a grab bag of potential anchors, including hotels, museums, office space and optional convention facilities, while most of their concepts still lean heavily on mixed-use housing and public space. Coverage has highlighted both the ambitious sales pitches and community skepticism, with neighborhood voices warning that a massive new hall could squeeze out badly needed housing or simply mirror Tampa’s existing convention capacity, according to the St. Pete Catalyst.
City officials plan to sift through the proposals they receive and may bring in an independent consultant to run a full-scale study before locking in any master plan for the site. Mayor Ken Welch has said he is ready to review submissions, but the council previously voted to put the selection process on hold to allow an outside review, as reported by WUSF…