St. Petersburg NAACP endorses Rays stadium, Historic Gas Plant project
The St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP announced its “resolute support” for a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays and the redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District surrounding it.
Branch president Esther Matthews on Wednesday released a statement that the Rays and partner Hines’ project aligns with the NAACP’s focus of multigenerational economic development. She said the branch’s executive committee held a vote Tuesday night and unanimously endorsed the project, highlighting its “special focus on empowering the African American community and businesses in St. Petersburg.”
“The Rays | Hines Historic Gas Plant Development Project is more than just an infrastructure endeavor; it’s a beacon of hope for economic revitalization and social justice,” Matthews said in a statement. “This project embodies our commitment to securing the economic sustainability of our community by ensuring African American businesses and the wider community benefit significantly from this development.”
Matthews attached to the announcement a photo of the branch’s executive committee meeting with three Rays representatives Tuesday night. She told the Tampa Bay Times that the Rays were there for about 45 minutes to an hour answering questions and left before the executive committee held its vote.
The news release said the branch is ready to collaborate with the Rays, Hines and the city to ensure that the development can be a model for other cites’ inclusive growth and will continue to champion community involvement and oversight.
Mayor Ken Welch renamed the effort to redevelop Tropicana Field when he scrapped his predecessor’s plans for the 86-acre property in the summer of 2022. The project that would transform prime downtown land was named the Historic Gas Plant District as a homage to the Black neighborhood that was once there. The neighborhood was razed in the 1980s with promises of redevelopment and jobs before it was used to build a stadium to lure in Major League Baseball.
Matthews served as the chairperson of a city committee formed to vet whether the Historic Gas Plant District plan would sufficiently benefit the community. In exchange for the city’s $130 million commitment for things such as roads and sewers and the sale of about 65 acres of public land at a significant discount, the Rays and Hines promised $50 million toward creating jobs and opportunities for minority-owned businesses, affordable housing initiatives and a new home for the Woodson African American Museum of Florida.
That benefits package was endorsed by the vetting committee in a 7-2 vote with some recommendations to the City Council that aim to ensure affordable housing gets built early and with as many homes as promised. Matthews voted for the project and has voiced support for it since that process wrapped up.
At a recent Suncoast Sierra Club meeting where most in attendance criticized the project, Matthews defended it. She said the project is not meant to solve the city’s affordable housing crisis and the current plans take into account the people who once lived in the Gas Plant neighborhood.
One of the two dissenting votes from the community benefits committee, Karyn Mueller, has spoken at meetings urging the council to vote no on the project. She is against the public financial commitments and the current financial penalties the Rays and Hines would face if they don’t build all the affordable housing they’ve pledged.
