ST. PETERSBURG - As we get closer to learning if the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County will move forward with the Hines-Rays deal to redevelop Tropicana Field, Gas Plant District descendants are weighing in on how African-Americans should be represented.
“That’s exactly what I call it, sacred ground,” said African American Heritage Association President Gwendolyn Reese as she walked through the neighborhood she lived in as a child, known as St. Petersburg’s Gas Plant District.
At the dawn of the 20th century, an empowered African-American neighborhood thrived with hundreds of homes, businesses, jobs and schools. Later, the community was demolished to make way for Tropicana Field.
“Most people don’t know the story of the Gas Plant neighborhood. It’s very important to me and the people who lived here that our stories not be forgotten,” said Reese.
She said the redevelopment of Tropicana Field and the surrounding area is an opportunity to share those stories.
“There's very little that I can show my children of my past,” she said. “So how do they learn about it? Through my memories and the stories I tell them. The buildings are gone, but the memories and the stories live on.”
Reese believes that when the current stadium was built, the city did not fulfill its promises to rebuild the neighborhood where hundreds of Black families lived. Many families were eventually displaced.
“It is never too late to do right,” said Reese.
When Hines-Rays proposed to redevelop the Gas Plant district, Reese connected with the displaced descendants of the neighborhood and got them involved. Now, Reese serves as a paid consultant for the Hines-Rays project, which aims to deliver not only a new ballpark but also affordable housing, employment opportunities and, as Reese puts it, the possibility of creating generational wealth.
“In my lifetime and in my research, this is the first step the city has ever taken towards addressing equity and in any kind of substantive way," she said.
However, some may disagree. Several meetings were held to negotiate the deal, with residents calling for more affordable housing.
“Housing is major, but so is employment," Reese said. "You need to have a job to be able to pay for your housing. I don't care if it's affordable housing, you still have to pay something for it. So it's about progress. It's about opportunity, equity, equalizing the playing field so that people have an opportunity to have good paying jobs."
J.C. Pritchett, a St. Petersburg native, believes this is an opportunity for African-Americans to have their voices heard.
“The African-American community, natives and residents know what was promised. What the hopes are, and everyone can speak for themselves,” said Pritchett.
Pritchett leads the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Florida to unite faith leaders for positive community change.
“From day one, people said we want businesses, we want to be entrepreneurs, we want job creation. We want to participate in the future of the city,” he said.
There is also a nod to the past for the ancestors who asked for equity all those years ago, specifically for Reese.
“Every generation wants to make things better for the next generation,” she said. “They are not here to benefit from it, but I can see them taking a deep breath to know that they are still doing something for those they left behind.“
This time, she says they want to make sure that promises made are promises kept.
St. Petersburg’s City Council and Pinellas County Commissioners are slated to make a final vote on redeveloping the Rays stadium by April and May.