TAMPA - Rejecting concerns of downtown business leaders, the Florida State Fair Authority approved plans Monday to build a 20,000-capacity amphitheater at the fairgrounds.
The 15-2 vote came after appeals from downtown business leaders who packed a meeting room to urge fair officials to slow the amphitheater plans, saying it will hurt ticket sales at the St. Pete Times Forum and businesses that benefit from it.
"This was a tough decision," said Charles Bronson, secretary of the Department of Agriculture, who sits on the board and met several times with community leaders. "I (believe) this will be a positive and not a negative for the county."
The vote clears the way for the fair to sign a contract allowing Clear Channel Entertainment to build an $18-million amphitheater. Fair officials hope it will be ready for business by mid to late 2004.
In return, Clear Channel will give the Fair Authority $1.5-million up front, $900,000 of which is in essence an interest-free loan to be paid off over 10 years. The Fair Authority will also get $275,000 in annual rent, which jumps to $535,000 after five years.
Additionally, the fair gets a cut of parking charges for all people who pay for tickets at concerts, estimated to bring in $450,000 annually in the first years and then climb. And the fair also would get a percentage of any naming-rights agreement struck by Clear Channel.
Clear Channel gets largely unfettered access to roughly 100 acres, or about one-third of the fairgrounds, except during the annual 12-day State Fair in February. The amphitheater itself will occupy about 17 of those acres.
Initial terms of the contract last 15 years, with three 10-year renewal options by Clear Channel.
"I'm delighted about the outcome," said Wilson Rogers, vice president for operations in the southeast in the music division of Clear Channel Entertainment.
Not so delighted were the few dozen business leaders, government officials and representatives of the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team who showed up to urge the Fair Authority to delay a vote.
The Lightning are currently working with city and county officials to renegotiate the agreements that allow it to operate the St. Pete Times Forum. The team is also in court challenging its property tax bills for the arena.
Reports by a consultant for Hillsborough County have concluded the team is losing millions annually - $32.7-million in the fiscal year ended in June 2002. Because of flagging hockey ticket sales, the team could leave Tampa with little penalty.
Lightning president Ron Campbell said Monday that the team may be forced to leave Tampa if concerts at the amphitheater eat further into the team's bottom line. Campbell said that he wants the hockey team to stay in Tampa but that "there's no question that the amphitheater will have a negative impact."
At the same time, he confirmed that team parent Palace Sports & Entertainment has an option to purchase a 50 percent interest in the amphitheater. Under terms of the agreement, Clear Channel can present a proposal any time now to Palace Sports, which will have 90 days to decide if it wants in.
If the Lightning vacate the forum, state and local governments would lose $10-million annually, according to an estimate by city and county officials. The loss would be largely from money that would be needed to pay off debt to build the arena in 1996. Millions more would be lost by local businesses downtown, from hotels to restaurants.
"It doesn't hurt to have a group of people sit around a table and see what impacts everyone's going to have," said Hillsborough Commissioner Jim Norman, echoing many of the comments.
Anticipating the testimony, Clear Channel's Rogers compared the critics to a group of "chicken littles" crying that the sky is falling. Because Clear Channel also promotes and books shows at the Times Forum, the company doesn't want to see that venue shuttered, he said.
Yes, the amphitheater will take some shows away from the Times Forum, but he says the impact will not be as large as predicted.
In the meantime, music lovers will have the opportunity to see shows that otherwise wouldn't come to the bay area, he said.
"Whether they accept it or don't, we're not spending $18-million-plus to cannibalize what we already have," Rogers said.
"That building needs to maintain its viability."
Hillsborough Commissioner Tom Scott, who sits on the Fair Authority, and TECO Energy Foundation executive director Jack Amor voted against the plans. Scott asked to delay a vote so the authority could hire outside consultants to assure them they have negotiated a good deal.
Amor said he felt too many of the provisions within the contract provide no guarantees of the revenue the Fair Authority hopes to reap from the deal.
