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Rays Consultant: Parking Would Be Plentiful Downtown

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By CARLOS MONCADA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 11, 2008

Updated: 03/11/2008 07:19 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - Hoping to address one of the critical issues surrounding its proposed downtown stadium, the Tampa Bay Rays released a study today that shows nearly 14,000 parking spaces would be available for baseball games.

The transportation and parking study the team submitted to the city also found that 7,000 spaces would be left for downtown businesses, institutions and residents and that traffic and parking disruptions would be minimal during the Rays' 81 home games.

A sellout crowd at the proposed 34,000-seat ballpark would require 11,950 spaces, the study said. The Rays project the new stadium would bring more than 2 million fans to downtown annually, with an average attendance of 26,000 per game, more than twice the size of an average crowd for games now played at Tropicana Field.

The Rays estimated when they announced their stadium plans in November that 12,000 existing parking spaces are within a 15-minute walk, or a mile, of Al Lang Field, where the proposed $450 million ballpark would be built.

Most of the 14,000 off-street spaces identified would be within a "reasonable" walking distance of up to 3/4 miles or 15 to 25 minutes, the study said. In slightly more distant areas, parking would be served by a dedicated shuttle service.

Moreover, the study said a downtown waterfront ballpark would not displace residents and visitors to the downtown area's numerous other attractions, including museums, the BayWalk shopping-and-entertainment complex, the Pier tourist attraction on Tampa Bay and retail and dining establishments.

"It basically confirms that there is a significant amount of parking around the Al Lang site and that there would be minimal disruption on traffic and from the standpoint of impacts to other businesses or events or residents downtown," said Michael Kalt, the Rays' senior vice president of development and business affairs.

The Rays also would build an 800-space parking garage for players and staff members. About 550 of those spaces would be presold to Rays fans.

The city controls about half of the 14,000 spaces. The rest are controlled by large institutions such as University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Bayfront Medical Center, All Children's Hospital and owners of privately owned lots and garages.

Downtown institutions have expressed interest in working with the Rays to provide parking for ballpark patrons, the study said. It was conducted by Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, a Baltimore-based engineering firm that has performed similar analyses on more than 20 major event facilities, including Oriole Park at Camden Yards, in the past two decades.

Mayor Rick Baker, who has raised concerns about a waterfront ballpark's potential traffic and parking impacts on other downtown businesses and attractions, was attending a National League of Cities conference in Washington today and could not be reached.

St. Petersburg Development Administrator Rick Mussett said the Rays' study will be reviewed by both the city and an independent consultant.

City staff is expected to send the city council a preliminary report in mid-April, and a final report and recommendation on the Rays' stadium proposal and the potential redevelopment of Tropicana Field about a month later, Mussett said.

The Rays have asked the council to decide by June 5 whether to authorize a November referendum on a downtown ballpark. The issue has divided the community and has raised questions about financing and environmental issues as well as traffic and parking concerns.

"We're not even going to give any comments on the Rays' transportation report until we finish our report,'' Mussett said.

St. Petersburg council chairman James Bennett said he still expects to see parking problems even if enough spaces are available.

"If this were to come to fruition, then we need a downtown mass transit system so people will park outside the downtown area and trolley in," he said. "There may be parking spaces, but everybody knows it's going to be a squeeze closest to the stadium."

Steve Lange, a member of the anti-stadium group Preserve Our Wallets and Waterfront, or POWW, also voiced skepticism.

"The study here is just a beginning point and it's based on assumptions," said Lange, a local architect.

The Rays also sent to the city preliminary design details for the 34,000-seat open-air stadium that show a retractable fabric roof covering the entire field using a cable net and motorized trolleys that could cover the field in six to eight minutes.

The team says the new ballpark would preserve waterfront views and integrate seamlessly into the existing downtown neighborhood.

News Channel 8 Reporter Rod Challenger contributed to this report. Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at cmoncada@tampatrib.com or (727) 451-2333.

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