Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

As stadium falls, focus shifts to what will rise

Clearwater again seeks involvement of North Greenwood.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE, Times Staff Writer
Published August 7, 2007

A worker walks by a partially dismantled Jack Russell Stadium on Monday. Clearwater has yet to decide what to do with the 16-acre site.
	[Times photo: Keri Wiginton]

CLEARWATER - As demolition continues to turn Jack Russell Stadium from landmark to memory, the city's attention will soon turn to what to do with the 16-acre site in North Greenwood.

It's not a new question.

In February 2004, Clearwater officials solicited development proposals for the site as the Philadelphia Phillies prepared to leave the stadium for a new spring training home at Bright House Networks Field. The city also asked North Greenwood residents what they wanted for the economically challenged area.

Two plans were presented, but no consensus emerged on what would best serve the community, so neither went forward.

Now, with the stadium being demolished, city leaders say they will restart that conversation.

"We will engage the community again and do more of a master plan for the site," said Gerri Campos Lopez, Clearwater's economic development director. "We will see what the community's vision is and some of the things they want to see, what the market can support and see what comes out in the middle."

It will take a couple of years before anything substantive happens at the site, Lopez said. But she said she expects to hire someone knowledgeable in community development in the next couple of months. That person will not only focus on North Greenwood but also Clearwater's East Gateway area.

Mayor Frank Hibbard said no plan will move forward without community involvement, but it will be a while before the discussions begin. First, Hibbard said the city is focusing on completing the downtown and Clearwater Beach streetscape projects.

In 2004, a city-sponsored study recommended putting an assisted living facility on the site, but North Greenwood residents objected, wanting more quality housing and jobs.

Two other plans emerged instead.

One called for selling the stadium site to the Miami-based Housing Trust Group of Florida for $2.83-million. The group wanted to build 58 townhomes selling for about $140,000 apiece and 192 affordable apartments.

The second project, developed by Grubb & Ellis and Biltmore Construction, called for a 200,000-square-foot business park. The city would own the property until the developer found businesses interested in the project.

Isay Gulley, executive director of Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services, said North Greenwood "has come a long way in its effort to revitalize itself" and whatever is put on the site could "move the neighborhood forward or backwards."

"It is important that the community have some voice in what is to be developed there, if the development is going to occur," Gulley said. "This tract of land, no doubt, is being viewed by many developers. The community is relying upon the city of Clearwater to inform it when those development opportunities are being considered."

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at 445-4174 or dalee@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 6, 2007, 20:14:04]