Hillsborough commissioners vote down $40M sports complex

The Hillsborough County Commission says there are a lot more pressing needs.

By BILL VARIAN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 4, 2007

Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair talks about the importance of kids sports and their facilities during a commission meeting where they voted on $40-million Championship Park.
	[Kathleen Flynn | Times]

TAMPA -- Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman's $40-million Championship Park proposal died an ignominious death Wednesday with him standing alone in support of the project.

A last-ditch effort to keep the proposal alive with further study failed when Norman could not muster a second needed to bring it to a vote from the full commission.

For good measure, commissioners later voted unanimously to affirmatively kill the project and set aside the $40-million for other purposes, to be determined later.

The other commissioners appeared almost eager to register their opposition to a two-year old proposal that has become exhibit A for critics of Hillsborough government's spending priorities. While generally lauding Norman's vision, they said the timing amid a property tax revolt was wrong.

"I think we have more pressing issues in our community that we can use our tax dollars for," said Commissioner Kevin White, setting the tone. "I just don't know why we would to go forward and study this project to death."

A dejected Norman pressed the issue, even as comments from other commissioners made clear their intentions not to support him. He painted some of his fellow board members as hypocrites who in the past have supported using tax money for museums and other cultural projects that will attract far fewer people.

"From the bottom of my heart, kids lost today," said Norman, who has faced criticism that he was pursuing a vanity project in the twilight of his commission career.

Norman, a long-time youth sports advocate, unveiled his dream in the summer of 2005 for a massive sports complex on county-owned Cone Ranch north of Plant City. He envisioned a 20,000-plus seat stadium surrounded by dozens of baseball and other multi-purpose fields scattered over 425 acres.

Norman said the park complex would host tournament events, college competitions and possibly minor league professional sports teams. It would take some of the stress off of other county parks that are overrun.

The kicker: Demand would be so great that rental fees, concessions and advertising would pay for its construction costs, and even spin off money for the upkeep of other parks.

When other commissioners expressed skepticism, Norman won approval to hire a consultant to study the park's feasibility and appointed a task force to vet its work. The consultant agreed the park would likely make money, with several caveats, but recommended postponing the stadium.

Most of the public speakers who showed up at Wednesday's meeting were clearly skeptical. They blasted the price tag, questioned the county's spending choices and said the park would invite sprawl.

"It is the wrong priority at the wrong place at the wrong time," said community activist Dena Gross Leavengood.

Plant City Mayor Rick Lott, who chaired the park task force, contrasted the skeptics with tales from his weekends, when he routinely ferries three of his four children to sporting competitions across the county.

He said a typical soccer season can set a parent back $2,000 a child between registration fees, equipment and travel. Still, tournaments his children attend around the country are routinely packed, demonstrating an ample market, he said.

That said, Lott insisted the task force took a conservative approach to its analysis.

"What the task force did not want is, two to three years from now, to read in the paper that Championship Park was not paying for itself," he said.

The soccer-dad anecdotes did not have the desired affect on White, who said that many of his central Tampa constituents cannot afford $2,000 soccer league seasons. His comments underscored some perceptions that the park was being proposed for well-heeled parents from out of town, rather than average children in Hillsborough.

Commissioners Brian Blair and Ken Hagan, both youth sports league coaches and parents, lauded Norman's proposal in concept. But Hagan said he was dubious of the profitability claims. Blair said the money would be better spent on improving existing parks.

Ultimately, commissioners said the decision was about balancing wants and needs in difficult financial times.

"To me, the timing couldn't be much worse for this project," Hagan said.

Determining those needs will be the next battle. Commissioners began staking out their claims Wednesday on the $40-million that is no longer going to Championship Park.

That decision will come later and only after a public hearing.

Bill Varian can be reached at varian@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3387.

[Last modified October 3, 2007, 23:49:07]