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Tampa may try to get 2008 GOP convention

A plan will be needed if the Republican National Committee asks the city to bid, say local supporters.

By JANET ZINK
Published August 11, 2005

TAMPA - He heads the GOP finance committee in Florida, but Al Austin says everyone wins if Tampa lands the 2008 Republican National Convention.

"Even Democrats enjoy spending Republicans' money," Austin said Wednesday. "It would be, in my opinion, a terrific thing for the community."

Austin, a developer, and fellow GOP supporter Dick Beard met this week with Mayor Pam Iorio to discuss the possibility of Tampa's submitting a bid to host the convention, which typically draws more than 50,000 people.

Tampa bid on the 2004 convention but lost to New York City.

"This was just a preliminary meeting to talk about what happened last time they had a bid," Iorio said.

The Republican National Committee is expected to invite cities to submit proposals early next year for the August 2008 convention. A decision would be made in early 2007.

An invitation to bid "is almost a given," said Austin, who also serves on the Republican Party's national finance committee. "Once that happens then you have to put together a plan if you're interested."

Thinking about the plan now gives Tampa a head start, he said.

"We came so close the last time, we were hoping we could try and do better this time," Austin said. "Having had the experience from before we certainly should have a meaningful opportunity to make it happen."

The main event would be held in the St. Pete Times Forum, Austin said, but make use of facilities throughout Tampa. In the last bid, the Tampa Convention Center was dedicated almost solely to media, he said.

Tampa lost the convention to New York in 2004 in part because of a lack of hotel rooms, Iorio said. Manhattan alone offers 21,000 rooms.

Tampa's successful Super Bowl bid included a list of 19,000 hotel rooms. About 12,000 of those are in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. The rest are in Orlando and Kissimmee.

The convention would be "a prelude to the Super Bowl," said Austin, who also helped prepare Tampa's successful bid to host the big game in 2009.

The proximity of the event to the Super Bowl in January 2009 and the requirements for the convention need to be considered before putting together a proposal, said Karen Brand, vice president of marketing for the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"We're not going to put the city out there if we can't do a good job," she said.

Iorio agreed.

"We have to make sure it's something we could successfully host," she said. "We have to go through this process and see how much money would need to be raised privately, what would be the expections of city, county and state governments."

At this point, she said, it is "premature" to speculate on putting together a proposal.

Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 11, 2005, 00:42:17]