Tampa’s plan to raze low-income housing for Rays stadium could doom historic school, too

access_time personNeil deMause

DRaysBay has more on that plan to build a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium on the site of a low-income housing project, and it’s even worse than it sounded at first:

  • The housing complex is co-owned by a nonprofit originally founded by members of the local African-American community to provide services that were unavailable in the segregated South, which for some reason bears the name the Lily White Security Benefit Association. It barely exists nowadays — no website and a meager $361,327 budget — but is still eager to sell the land under the housing complex for $9 million.
  • Relocating the 372 families currently occupying the apartments would cost from $9.3 million to $27.9 million, assuming somewhere can be found to move them to.
  • The site is too small for a stadium, so to make sufficient room the city of Tampa would also probably have to raze the historic Booker T. Washington Elementary School. Plus maybe a public library and a Catholic church.
  • The highway access isn’t great, so somebody would need to pay for new ramps from I-275 and I-4.

And as a punchline, DRaysBay recounts this troubling list, then notes:

For all these reasons, Mayor Buckhorn has indicated his support for this site.

Florida, man.

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2 comments on “Tampa’s plan to raze low-income housing for Rays stadium could doom historic school, too”

  1. Moral certainty is easy when on starts, as Tampa politicians always do, from the conclusion that “a stadium must be built.” Most pols in that area would probably knock down a school with people in it if it made the difference to getting pro sports.

  2. Telling passage from that (excellent) piece at DRaysBay…

    “A Rays stadium at this site would not be politically feasible, nor would it pass the smell test for anyone who cares about the overall health of our city, if displaced tenants received only token moving assistance.”

    Not to assume the worst of people, but a part of me thinks this wouldn’t move the needle in either direction as far as public sentiment for a stadium in that area is concerned.

    Either way: Long-standing buildings and historic sites — in so far as any Floridian building or site outside of St Augustine can be considered truly “historic” — are making way for new developments all across the state, and at the fastest ever rate. The hurdles for this particular site seem pretty high, but really, I certainly wouldn’t bet against them being cleared after a few attempts.

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