PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The City of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, and the Hines and Tampa Bay Rays developers are now releasing details on the new Rays ballpark.
Thursday's city council meeting presentation shows how the new stadium will benefit the community over the next 30 years.
"Have a really good time; we can walk there, take the trolley, and have a great time there, touch the sting rays; it's fun!" said Madeleine Gallier, a resident in St. Pete.
Gallier loves going to Rays games and is ready for a new stadium.
"I'm super excited; I think people are going to flood in from all over to see the rays. I think it will be a huge success for our city, bringing a lot of money in, and now people won't have an excuse to not come to the game," said Gallier.
Although she loves to attend, she says the current stadium tends to look empty.
I would like to see all of the seats filled, especially coming from Houston, where the Astros are overflowing; I think it's going to be really nice to bring people in. And get more St. Petersburg spirit," said Gallier.
Leaders are getting a plan together with a new stadium in the works.
Releasing new details Thursday about what the new stadium will look like.
Including building 1,200 affordable housing units for people who make between $30,000 and $73,000 a year…and at least 3,800 market-rate units. The presentation predicts that 44,000 jobs will be created from the project, breaking down how much medical, retail, and office space will be available.
"It is a great day in St. Pete. A day where the sun is shining on a future of inclusive progress for our city," said Ken Welch, St. Petersburg Mayor.
The city will spend $417 million over the next three decades and is predicting to profit at least $200 million from the project. The city plans to invest that money in fire, police, parks, affordable housing, and economic opportunities for residents.
But at the city council meeting, not everyone agreed. Some council members argue that they don't think the project will make a big difference for the area.
"Stadium investments based off of academic research do not pay back to their community," said city council member Richie Floyd.
Nick Carey, with an organization called Faith in Florida, would prefer the money be directly invested into the community.
"The people we are trying to organize and help are in need of real things like housing, there's a food desert in South St. Pete., making sure we are building sustainably, and it just seems like we are giving far too much control," said Carey.
He hopes any decisions moving forward are carefully thought out.
"I know there are a lot of folks in favor of this deal. However, we just feel that there are a lot of folks not represented in this deal," said Carey.
