PINELLAS PARK - A proposed job training center for low-income youths lost its home when a private developer snapped up the land federal officials had planned to buy.
Despite the setback, officials still plan to locate the $30-million Job Corps site in Pinellas, county Commissioner Bob Stewart said Thursday.
"I am very upset, too, but we'll make it work somewhere else," Stewart said.
In April 2003, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the facility would be housed on 66th Street N in Pinellas Park where St. Petersburg College's administrative offices were located. The Labor Department also said it would buy acreage next door.
The center would have provided free academic and vocational training to disadvantaged youths ages 16-24. There also would have been dormitory space for about 400 students. Training would have been offered in computer technology, health care and construction.
Everything seemed fine for a while, Stewart said, until the owner of the land adjacent to the college died and the estate took over negotiations.
"The clouds started to build," Stewart said.
Job Corps needed 5 or 6 acres of the 11-acre parcel and spent time looking for someone to share the site. At one point, it appeared that the federal government, the city of Pinellas Park and the St. Petersburg Family YMCA each would take part of the site.
"We all got really excited," Stewart said. "That was our dream. That was our plan. We worked toward that."
In the meantime, the appraisal came back "significantly higher" than the $1.95-million the federal government was willing to pay. Then, a developer offered more than the appraisal.
Federal officials asked for more time.
"That's when I find out it's not a matter of weeks, it's a matter of days," Stewart said. "This all came to a crashing end (the week of May 3) when the estate signed a contract with the developer."
Now everybody is back to square one, he said. Job Corps representatives soon will return to Pinellas to look for an alternate site.
Pinellas Park officials say they understand they still may be on the list as a prime location. But Mayor Bill Mischler said he's not sure there's a large enough parcel to support the program.
City Manager Mike Gustafson said the program certainly would be welcome in the city, but it will not hurt Pinellas Park if it locates elsewhere.
"I don't see how this affects us," Gustafson said. "It's a great thing for the county."
