Tampa Bay Rays stadium: Work on temporary college campus could start soon
Planning moves ahead for new Rays stadium
It's full steam ahead for the Tampa Bay Rays' new stadium in Tampa. The project's potential timeline is coming into focus a few days after city and county leaders signed off on the deal. FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - It's full steam ahead for the Tampa Bay Rays and supporters of the stadium deal, with the expectation that work at the site could begin soon.
Dale Mabry campus plans
What we know:
The first focus will be "The Nest," a temporary Hillsborough College campus that will allow students to remain at the Dale Mabry campus during construction. Rays CEO Ken Babby says work on the Nest will begin immediately.
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Hillsborough College President Dr. Ken Atwater wants the temporary campus ready for the spring semester, which is about four months away.
The Nest is designed to keep Hillsborough College students on-site while construction takes place. Babby says students will not be displaced to another campus.
"We are eager to begin work on the Nest immediately. The Nest is the transitionary process of building their new temporary campus while we're still in construction," Babby said. "Folks have talked about are the students gonna get displaced and moved off-site? The answer is no. We're building the Nest, as [Hillsborough College President] Dr. [Ken] Atwater's probably shared, directly onsite at the Dale Mabry Hillsborough college campus."
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Public stadium funding
What we don't know:
At the same time, the project still has to go through bond validation to make sure the financing is in place. Hillsborough County Commission Chair Ken Hagan says that process could take between 60 and 90 days.
Hagan says any legal challenge to the county's financing would be handled through the bond validation process.
"It's my understanding that, assuming there is a legal challenge, it's wrapped up into the bond validation process," Hagan said. "And then in the event that it's appealed, it goes directly to the state Supreme Court. And again, that would be on a fast tracked or an accelerated basis."
Dig deeper:
The project also requires a community benefits agreement, which will outline investments connected to the deal, including affordable housing, workforce development and youth programs. Babby says the agreement must be finalized before city or county money can be used.
"The community benefits agreement will still need to be negotiated and finalized. It's what's called the condition precedent to the funding going forward," Babby said. "Not a penny from the city or the county will go into the project until that agreement is negotiated with us and together with the Rays."
The Source: Information for this story came from interviews with Ken Babby, Tampa Bay Rays CEO; Ken Hagan, Hillsborough County Commission Chair; and Dr. Ken Atwater, Hillsborough College President.