St. Petersburg City Council advised not to meet with baseball stadium coalition
By Stephen Nohlgren, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, January 29, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG — A decades-old rift between Pinellas and Hillsborough counties over Major League Baseball has once again bubbled to the fore.
For 18 months, a committee of community movers and shakers has studied whether the Tampa Bay Rays need a new stadium. Calling themselves the ABC Coalition, the group took on the project at the request of St. Petersburg's mayor.
Stadium report says everything the Tampa Bay Rays could have hoped
By John Romano, Times Sports Columnist
In Print: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG — So let's go over some of the issues addressed by the ABC Coalition in regard to the Rays' stadium situation:
That a new facility with a retractable roof is actually needed? Check.
That it should be in a more central location than downtown St. Petersburg? Check.
Baseball committee recommends a more central location for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium
By Stephen Nohlgren, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rays need a new, centrally located baseball stadium and planning should begin soon, a group of business and community leaders declared Monday.
The 11-member ABC Coalition, which has studied the stadium issue for 18 months, approved its final report Monday, which it hopes to present to St. Petersburg and Pinellas County officials over the next few weeks.
ABC Coalition says report on new Tampa Bay Rays stadium a month or two away
By Stephen Nohlgren, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, November 21, 2009
A group of business and community leaders pushing for a new baseball stadium said Friday that it will present its conclusions to public officials and interested citizens soon.
It just might take a month or two longer than expected.
The ABC Coalition had planned to approve a draft report Friday, based on a year of studies about stadium design, location, corporate support and financing.
St. Petersburg has sharp response to coalition's draft report on Tampa Bay Rays stadium
By Stephen Nohlgren, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, November 20, 2009
ST. PETERSBURG — A draft report by the group examining possibilities for a new major league baseball stadium has provoked a pointed response from the city of St. Petersburg:
Tropicana Field is "fan friendly,'' the Tampa Bay Rays are legally required to play there for the next 17 years, and don't involve the Rays in Hillsborough stadium discussions without the city's approval.
St. Petersburg Mayor-elect Bill Foster prepares to take office Jan. 2
By Cristina Silva, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, November 8, 2009
ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor-elect Bill Foster has a law office stacked with congratulatory flowers and chocolates, but not yet the keys to City Hall.
As the first St. Petersburg mayor in recent history with a prolonged transition period between his election and inauguration, he'll be caught in limbo between both worlds for the next two months.
Bill Foster gives himself too much credit in nixing a waterfront stadium for the Rays
By Stephen Nohlgren, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Thursday, October 29, 2009
ST. PETERSBURG — While campaigning for mayor, Bill Foster has twice taken credit for squelching the Tampa Bay Rays' push last year for a new downtown waterfront ballpark.
Here's how he put it three weeks ago during a League of Women Voters debate. He was trying to illustrate his contention that, unlike rival Kathleen Ford, he works well with people.
Rays: Weekend attendance is fine; weekdays' not so much
By Stephen Nohlgren, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Thursday, October 22, 2009
ST. PETERSBURG — Attendance at Tampa Bay Rays games inched forward in 2009 while Major League Baseball as a whole was losing fans.
No thanks to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
That's the message the Rays presented Wednesday to the ABC Coalition, a self-appointed group of community leaders who are studying prospects for a new baseball stadium.
Rays' future at stake
Contrary to the rhetoric in the St. Petersburg mayor's race, the Tampa Bay Rays mean something to this community. As Major League Baseball attendance nationwide declined this year, the Rays' attendance increased. With the unemployment rate above 10 percent and the team playing below expectations, the Rays still drew 3.3 percent more fans for a total of nearly 1.9 million. Yet Kathleen Ford treats the team — and anyone who wants to talk about a new stadium — as potential defendants.
Once again this week, Ford made it clear she sees no new stadium in the Rays' future and will sue the team if it tries to leave before its lease is up in 2027. She questions the franchise's economic impact and even accuses a community group examining possible stadium options with interfering with the lease. Her approach insults community leaders, public officials and baseball fans who spent decades working to bring a Major League Baseball franchise here.
Is a committee studying options for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium going too far?
ST. PETERSBURG — They are a self-appointed committee of movers and shakers who say that the Tampa Bay Rays need a new stadium and that planning should begin when the economy improves.
They have not recommended a construction timetable or a specific site. They are just making "observations,'' they say.