 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Grand Prix is no prize to some
By BRYAN GILMER ST. PETERSBURG -- People paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to live in condominiums next to yachts bobbing in the basin, to waterfront parks and to pedestrians quietly dipping into and out of the pricey boutiques on Beach Drive. In February 2003, the plan is for the waterfront at the foot of St. Petersburg's prized condo towers to be crowded with tens of thousands of pedestrians and echo with the whine of race car engines that can push cars well over 200 mph. Mayor Rick Baker's administration will ask the City Council today to approve the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, a race envisioned for February 2003 featuring open-wheel cars sanctioned by Championship Auto Racing Teams, or CART. "If anything, it's going to afford all the residents of downtown with another special event that's distinctive," said Kevin Dunn, the city's managing director of development coordination. Mack Hicks, a resident of the Cloisters condominium tower, agreed, saying, "People move down here to be a part of the new St. Pete, to be able to walk to things like this." But that's not how Millard Schindler sees it: He owns a 25th-floor condominium right over the race's proposed starting line on Central Avenue. The 65-year-old sailboat company operator has been through such a race on a temporary street course in Miami. "It was a real pain," said Schindler, who lives in the Bayfront Tower. "It just tied up the streets; you couldn't get through." Dr. David S. Hubbell, a 78-year-old retired surgeon who owns a condo at the Florencia a block north, agreed. "It impedes traffic, people getting in and out of residences" and is noisy, he said. But some say that such races boost the local economy by more than $20-million, and they build name recognition worth far more than the price of any inconvenience. Business interests love the idea. Perch Restaurant co-owner Richard Olson said, "It's going to create a lot of customer traffic."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times South Pinellas desks |
