Support swells for Trop site convention center

Pinellas County and St. Petersburg officials will explore the feasibility of building a convention center in the Historic Gas Plant District, with or without a new stadium. 

City council members received notification Wednesday evening that the two administrations agreed to study the project’s viability. The 6:05 p.m. email from City Development Administrator James Corbett came five hours after the Tampa Bay Rays announced they were in “exclusive discussions” to sell the team. 

The 86-acre Gas Plant District is currently home to Tropicana Field and its sprawling surface parking lots. Council Chair Copley Gerdes said Thursday that he has “always believed that the site needs an anchor tenant, something to draw people there on a daily basis.” 

“The county and the city need that space,” Gerdes told the Catalyst. “Obviously, I was a big believer in having the stadium there, but I’m still a big believer in having an anchor tenant around a master plan.” 

Corbett’s memo states that the study will include an in-depth analysis of the market demand for convention space, a facility’s appropriate size and how the project could support regional tourism, economic development and job creation. 

The Rays and Hines development team planned to include 90,000 square feet of conference, ballroom and meeting space as part of a vibrant, mixed-use community surrounding a stadium. A new project could also feature the two facilities. 

“I think what we’re trying to find out now is, how big could we go if there wasn’t a stadium,” Gerdes said. “But I absolutely still believe we could have both. I absolutely believe that.” 

The massive Tampa Convention Center encompasses 600,000 square feet. St. Petersburg would likely build a smaller facility regardless of what happens with the Rays. 

Councilmember Figgs-Sanders noted a new stadium would mitigate space. She still believes the site could support the two facilities, offer attainable housing and foster new jobs. 

“It may not be as large as a huge convention center, but we will definitely have design options because we have to start from scratch,” Figgs-Sanders said. “Now, if we don’t have a baseball team, then … it’s all about retrofitting what we already have to accommodate some of those needs.

“I would love to see a convention center there, especially if we don’t have baseball.” 

The Rays nixed plans to redevelop the Gas Plant in March. County Commissioner Vince Nowicki told his colleagues in April that he submitted a two-page document to the Tourist Development Council (TDC) “supporting the idea of a feasibility study” for a convention center in St. Petersburg. 

He said the county should lead those efforts amid a “sharp increase in hotel demand downtown, which far outpaces the submarkets.” He believes the facility would bolster mid-week tourism.

In May, Mayor Ken Welch said he had considered building conference and meeting space at a proposed Center for the Arts along the downtown waterfront and at the Trop site. “I’m kind of leaning towards the Historic Gas Plant, and I think some council members are, as well,” he added.  

When asked if the city could build a convention center in the district without demolishing the Trop, Welch said, “We think there are opportunities to do that.” The team’s lease at the stadium expires in 2028. 

“That would be part of the conversations we’d have to have with the Rays,” Welch added. “Obviously, parking is going to be an issue.” 

A convention center would eliminate some of the Trop’s vast surface lots. However, a 540-space public parking garage opened Monday, less than half a mile away. 

Gerdes said downtown St. Petersburg, with its culinary, shopping and entertainment options, is an ideal location for a convention center in a county that lacks developable land. Attendees could reach the beaches in about 10 minutes and Tampa International Airport in 25 minutes. 

“From my experience on the TDC, listening to the county commission and hearing from downtown businesses, I think there’s widespread support for a convention center,” Gerdes said.

Figg-Sanders noted the growing city lacks event space. She would like to see a hotel and the Woodson African American Museum of Florida abutting a convention center, with surrounding retail options and affordable housing. 

“I am all in for that because number one, we are a premier tourist destination,” Figgs-Sanders said. “And we would be able to host so much more if we had a convention center.” 

Gerdes said the Gas Plant should be a walkable “neighborhood within a neighborhood.” He and Figgs-Sanders believe a convention center would foster small businesses and help fulfill long-deferred promises to the predominantly Black residents who once called the area home. 

“That’s an integral part of this – we can’t just have a standalone convention center with a parking lot around it,” Gerdes continued. “We have that today. It has to be interconnected with the neighborhood.”