PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The future of the Historic Gas Plant District in St. Pete is back in limbo as we wait to learn the future of the Tampa Bay Rays again.
Two local organizations are holding a series of meetings to get public input on the development.
"It has been really sad to see what's happened to the community, but there has been a lot of support and outreach and resilience, and people still want to be here," said Ryan Bogden, a realtor.
St. Pete has been through a lot in the last year, from the hurricanes to the Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal falling through.
"This year, not having it, businesses have felt that this summer in lower attendance of foot traffic on the streets," said Bogden.
Bogden is a realtor with Keller Williams St. Pete.
He said while things are starting to get better, he's seen the impact of the storms.
"Especially in this season, we saw record low numbers…over the last few years in terms of homes being sold," said Bogden.
He said whatever happens with the Historic Gas Plant District, it needs to benefit business owners and include sustainability.
"We want to see a center that brings visitors to our city, I think that's really important, especially if baseball isn't staying," said Bogden.
The Sierra Club and the School of Creativity and Innovation are hosting a series of community design meetings for residents and business owners to brainstorm ideas for what the Historic Gas Plant District and Tropicana Field could be turned into going forward.
"We are actually creating prototypes, taking the lived experiences of our community members and translating that into visual prototypes that can be seen, experienced," said Steve Diasio, founder of The School of Creativity and Innovation.
Organization leaders said many ideas from the first meeting included affordable housing and green space.
Diasio said whatever happens with the area, decisions need to be made soon.
"Seeing the devastation that happened to the trop and the surrounding area, you constantly have this memory of what we went through and the history of the neighborhood," said Diasio.
Organization leaders said there will be five more public meetings over the next few months, and eventually those ideas will be presented to the city and developers.
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