ST. PETERSBURG – City voters are open to the idea of a new downtown waterfront baseball stadium – depending on who’s paying for it, according to a new St. Petersburg Times poll.

Fifty-seven percent of city voters surveyed said they would favor plans to build a new ballpark if no city tax dollars were used.

If city tax dollars were part of the equation, 69 percent said they would oppose the plan. In voters' minds, the financing of the $450-million Tampa Bay Rays stadium is the biggest road block. Not parking. Not the heat.

The telephone survey of 616 city voters was conducted Monday and Tuesday and includes a four percent margin of error.

Respondents were split on whether money from the sale of Tropicana Field should be used to build a new stadium.

They were, however, more likely to favor the Rays' plan if Tropicana was converted into a large mixed-use development that paid local property and state sales taxes.

The results are a good first step for team executives, who have not discussed their plans to build a new stadium at Al Lang Field since the Times’ website www.tampabay.com broke the story Nov. 9.

The Rays would pay up to a third of the cost to build a new 35,0000-seat open air stadium.

The team also could use money from the sale of Tropicana Field and property taxes generated by the redevelopment of the site to offset construction costs.
The Rays said today that Gov. Charlie Crist, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and Major League Baseball President Bob DuPuy will be on hand Nov. 28 for an official announcement.

The Rays say they intend to “announce details and renderings of a new waterfront ballpark and redevelopment of Tropicana Field.’’

People who attended more than six Rays games largely supported a new stadium, even if city tax dollars were part of the equation.

Complete coverage of the waterfront park plan

-- by Aaron Sharockman, Times staff writer