Update – June 26, 2025:

Today’s Tampa Bay Times column by John Hill – Convention Center at the Trop? Ugh, please – echoes the core message of this post.  

Building a convention center without a master plan is not just risky, it is really ill-advised. 

Let’s not gamble with public land and money -let’s start with a real community-driven plan.

Write your representatives

If you agree, with John Hill’s Opinion and this post, write to St. Petersburg’s Mayor Welch,  Pinellas County Administrator Barry Burton, St. Pete City Council Members and Pinellas County Commissioners.   

Here is how you can write to them or how we can send your comments to your represenatives. 

Don’t Start with a Convention Center. Start with a Plan.

This week, both the Catalyst and the Tampa Bay Times reported that  St. Petersburg and Pinellas County are planning to study the feasibility of a convention center at the Gas Plant Property.  

Apparently the city and county think a convention center can be a good investment, and we need it as an anchor for the 86-acre site after the Tampa Bay Rays depart.

While it’s good to think ahead, let’s be clear:

• A study is not a substitute for a thoughtful, community-led master plan – for the whole site as the first step.
• A convention center isn’t automatically a smart investment — especially if it’s publicly funded.
• Properly developed, the Gas Plant will have plenty of anchors – we don’t need a convention center anymore than we needed a baseball stadium to be an anchor for this great piece of land.

A better test: launch a master plan for the Gas Plant site, then let experienced private developers decide if a mid-sized event space makes sense. If there’s demand, they’ll invest. If not, the city avoids costly mistakes and can redirect funds to proven priorities like housing, parks, and local economy development, and the county to beach renourishment.

We’ve Tried “Build It and They Will Come” Before

We’ve seen this story before — with Tropicana Field.

A few local leaders, without a public referendum, decided to build a baseball stadium. The thinking was: if we build it, they will come.

They didn’t.

The Rays, despite their on-field success, always ranked near the bottom in attendance. Few tourists came.  And the surrounding area only began to thrive years later — because of everything other than baseball.

What made downtown St. Pete vibrant wasn’t the stadium. It was:

• • Our world-class beaches

• • The arts, museums, and local culture

• • The St. Pete Pier

• • Restaurants, walkability, and public space

Let’s not repeat the mistake of overestimating what a big building can do on its own.

Start with a Real Master Plan

As we discussed in our post Why Community Planning Should Come First, before anything else, the Gas Plant District needs a comprehensive, transparent master plan for the full 86 acres. No one should be pushing for a single use — not a stadium, not a convention center — before we’ve outlined a holistic vision.

That means:

• • Hiring outside planning consultants with national experience

• • Forming a Community Advisory Committee and hosting community-led input sessions, especially with displaced families

• • Laying out where housing, parks, retail, offices, and civic spaces go — block by block

Let’s define the kind of neighborhood we want to build. That’s the foundation. Not a rendering. Not a ribbon-cutting. A real plan.

A Convention Center? 

Some officials, including Council Chair Copley Gerdes and Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders, say a convention center could serve as a new anchor. But here’s what we know:

💸 Convention centers are among the riskiest public investments a city can make:

• • Construction costs can exceed $150–250 million

• • Most lose money annually, requiring taxpayer subsidies

• • They occupy prime land, yet don’t pay property taxes

• • They sit empty between events — sometimes for weeks

These are facts from across the country, not just theory.

If St. Pete builds a publicly funded center, it will almost certainly come with long-term financial burdens and missed land-use opportunities.

Let’s Not Waste Money on Studies Right Now

A convention center study at this stage is premature at best.

Without a master plan in place — without knowing what the site will look like, what the streets and parcels will be, what types of housing or open space will be included — any market study is just guesswork.

Instead of spending public money on consultants to study a project that may not make sense, let’s complete the master plan first.

Then, once the land is laid out, let the market do the real study:
👉 Invite experienced developers to respond.
👉 See who proposes an event space, a hotel, or a conference facility.
👉 If they believe in the market, they’ll build it with their own money.

That’s the only study that matters — one backed by real dollars, not consultants or speculation.

Pinellas County Has Bigger Priorities

If Pinellas County helps fund a convention center, it will almost certainly draw from the Tourist Development Tax (bed tax revenue).

But that money is already under pressure — and it’s needed elsewhere.

The county’s most valuable tourism asset is the beaches. Period.

• • They drive the economy and draw millions of visitors each year

• • They’re under constant threat from hurricanes, erosion, and rising seas

• • Beach renourishment is expensive, constant, and absolutely essential

Why would we siphon money away from the thing that already works to gamble on something that might not?

Let’s invest in protecting what actually brings people here — not chasing something that works for other cities with different assets and infrastructure.

Public Land Should Serve the Public — Every Day

The Gas Plant site is too valuable for a large, single-use facility that:

• • Doesn’t pay taxes

• • Serves a narrow function

• • Sits idle most of the year

Let’s use that land to:

• • Build mixed-income housing

• • Support Black-owned businesses

• • Expand the Woodson African American Museum of Florida

• • Create a world-class urban park

• • Offer restaurants, civic space, greenways, and real economic opportunity

This is public land. Let’s use it for the public good — not speculative buildings and hopeful outcomes.

Let’s Keep the Door Open to Bold Ideas

While it’s too soon to settle on any specific uses, when the time comes, we should think big — and think local.

St. Petersburg is already known for its vibrant arts and culture scene, which is one of the key reasons people visit, move here, and stay. That strength could be a foundation for something extraordinary — like attracting a branch of a major art museum or expanding our cultural footprint in a meaningful way.

At the same time, we should revisit past conversations with Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa to see if there’s renewed interest in bringing top-tier research and health services to the site. These kinds of bold partnerships could offer lasting civic and economic value without relying on risky public subsidies.

Rethink the Word “Anchor”

St. Pete doesn’t need another “anchor tenant.” It needs anchors that are alive seven days a week.

That could mean:

• • A signature public park

• • A mix of housing, retail, and culture

• • Everyday walkability and energy

• • A design that connects to the city and uplifts surrounding communities

We don’t need a convention center to activate the space. We need people, homes, creativity, and good design.

Let’s Do This Right

St. Pete has the chance to make the Gas Plant District a national model — for equitable redevelopment, walkable urbanism, and smart public-private partnership.

But that starts with a clear message:

• • Let’s not waste money on feasibility studies for things we may not even want.

• • Let’s plan the site first.

• • Let’s let the private market step in if the demand is real.

• • And let’s focus public investment where it matters most.

This city has momentum. Let’s not throw it away on another version of “If we build it, they will come.”

Let’s build what people already love — and protect what already works.