Panel tempted by women's tennis fame

By JAMES THORNER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 22, 2001

Long before it became an international titan of tennis, Wimbledon was a sleepy English village.

Pasco County could grab a share of Wimbledon's glory if it agrees to build a multimillion-dollar tennis stadium in Wesley Chapel, Saddlebrook Resort owner Tom Dempsey said Thursday in a presentation to the county's Tourist Development Council in Dade City.

Dempsey said construction of the Pasco National Tennis Center, by luring major tennis tournaments, would "globally identify Pasco County as a tennis mecca."

"I don't see anything that can compete with the tennis stadium on what it can do for Pasco County," Dempsey said after making a pitch for more than $5-million in tourist development money stockpiled from a 2 percent tax on hotel rooms since 1991.

Taking its first small step in Dempsey's direction, the tourist council recommended giving the Women's Tennis Association $75,000 for each of the next 10 years.

The governing body of the international women's tennis tour, the WTA will announce next week the site of its new headquarters. Saddlebrook is among the four finalists.

Dempsey wants to include the promise of $75,000 in yearly installments in his bid package to the WTA.

He said Pasco will benefit in two ways: If the WTA relocates to Pasco, women's tennis has guaranteed to fill the Pasco stadium with at least one major tournament a year.

In exchange for the $75,000, which would come from an estimated yearly $320,000 in tourist tax money devoted to promotions, the WTA has also assured Pasco billing as "The Home of the WTA Tour."

The tourist council, which includes County Commissioner Pat Mulieri, voted 6-1 to accept the deal. County commissioners will cast the decisive vote at their meeting Tuesday in New Port Richey.

Dempsey overcame the initial reluctance of some council members, particularly west Pasco hotelier Pat Moran, who wondered whether the county was subsidizing Saddlebrook.

"I don't think Saddlebrook needs so much help from the rest of us," Moran said.

As Moran questioned the $75,000-per-year WTA deal, Ed Turanchik, head of the committee trying to land the 2012 Summer Olympics in Central Florida, took the podium in Dempsey's defense.

Turanchik, who hopes to place the Olympic tennis venue at the proposed Wesley Chapel stadium, suggested the $75,000 was a small price to pay to land the WTA.

"I've got to tell you, $75,000 doesn't buy you squat," Turanchik said, pointing to his committee's $4-million marketing budget. ". . . You're a drop of rain in a thunderstorm."

WTA chief Josh Ripple said his board will choose its new headquarters June 30 during Wimbledon. Saddlebrook, which promised to build the WTA a 13,000-square-foot building at the resort, is competing with St. Petersburg, Atlanta and Charleston, S.C.

As for the stadium money, Dempsey said he'll seek a commitment from commissioners in July or August. He's certain that once county commissioners consider all the alternatives, they'll agree to spend between $5-million and $7-million on a complex with seating for at least 4,000.

Saddlebrook has promised to assume management of the stadium and cover any operating losses.

"I know what the commissioners feel," said Dempsey, who has pitched the stadium separately with each of the five board members. "I feel very confident about that."

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