championship park
permalink | categories: county, development, hc bocc, sport, tourism, transportationby tommy @ 1:19 pm
The Tribune has said that there is a shortage of sports fields for the children of Hillsborough County. Jim Norman wants to fix that with a place called “Championship Park” in Northeastern Hillsborough County.
Critics say the place will induce more sprawl, is unnecessary, and will cost too much.
Supporters say the county must continue to grow anyway, we need more ballfields for kids, and that the park will pay for itself.
Trib, Times, and Loaf have all written about it:
- July 2005: Plans unveiled
- Park might pay for itself in 30 years (Temple Terrace Beacon)
- Will Sports Facility Work?
- Plant City Mayor Likes Proposal
- Trib: Voters Should Decide
- Jim Norman’s Field of Dreams (a look at all sides from Wayne Garcia of Creative Loafing)
I side with those who say it’s an unnecessary use of tax dollars at this time of big budget cuts. Also, I’m not comfortable with it being miles away from the existing population center. I’d like to hear your arguments for and against Championship Park.
Tags: county, development, hc bocc, sports, tourism, transportation
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October 2nd, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Commissioners will discuss this item, and possibly vote on it, at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow (Wed.). Here’s the letter I sent them:
You can send your thoughts to your commissioners, too.
October 2nd, 2007 at 2:45 pm
I’m not totally against the idea of a sports park, but I doubt this one will work as represented.
“Supporters say the county must continue to grow anyway”
So does cancer, it’s called metastasis. It would be better if we tried to control it before it consumes the last healthy living tissue of Hillsborough County.
“we need more ballfields for kids”
Great, let’s at least put it near the largest focus of the population its intended to serve. Put it closer to East Tampa where kids really don’t have ball fields, and people need jobs, and the surrounding area would benefit from the increased economic activity.
“the park will pay for itself”
Aquarium. Centro Ybor. Taxpayers are laboring to pay for projects that were studied and researched and proven to work elsewhere and seemed like such great ideas…don’t get fooled again.
October 2nd, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Dear Commissioners:
Admittedly, the concept of a Championship Park is not a bad one.
Unfortunately, the timing is completely wrong in these days of budget cuts, staff lay-offs, and public library closings.
Perhaps in another ten or twenty years impementing this idea will make
more sense?
In the big picture, our area already has an over-emphasis on sports, to
the detriment of other aspects that contribute to our quality of life.
Don’t get me wrong, my kids play sports and love it, as do I, but we
also participate in other activities such as cultural events (what little
there is around) that will produce a well-rounded, intelligent citizenry. Sports are but a part of that equation.
Perhaps it is time for our county to give those other quality of life aspects some serious consideration?
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:05 pm
The county needs ballfields and yet the placement of this park is away from the population base. THat’s not a solution, that’s misdirection. In trying to sell the project, they give you another fact that has nothing to do with the proposal and paint the proposal as the solution.
Citrus Park kids aren’t going to play on those fields — unless their team makes some huge tournament. Neither are South Tampa kids, Temple Terrace kids, Tampa Palms, Brandon, Ruskin, Carrolwood, etc, etc, etc. A solution for THAT problem (the county lacking playing fields) is totally separate from this park complex.
But Norman and his development friends want to confuse you on that.
Lets also bring up sales tax dollars not bringing in the same amount of money as projected in the short term, the Community Investment Tax dollars being projected at less than half of the original projected tally of monies that the county would have to play with until 2026 and you don’t just have a waste of money, you have fiscal insanity by way of Jimmy-Boy Norman. 40 MILLION for a sprawlpark in the boonies of Hillsborough county when those monies should go elsewhere to cover shortfalls now…
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:28 pm
I thought we already spent CIT money on a stadium, right? Glaser stadium, right? I believe we have more pressing needs in the county. I’m not in favor of Champ Park, but I am in favor of making more parks and fields for our Hillsborough kids with some of the CIT monies. I get real concerned when I realize that if that park can’t pay for itself, we still have the bond to cover and the operation and maintenance to cover. General revenue contains property tax dollars too. Seems property taxes are the only sure bet for extracting money since people will cut back on spending (sales tax) in order to pay mortgages, taxes, insurance. I don’t want to risk my largest asset, would you?
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:51 pm
I think they need to spend the money on more school books for our children. My son has had to share books with other classes since we moved here in 1999. He could not bring home an english book because Mrs So and So’s class was using it. It’s rediculous. We moved here from a town that didn’t even have a redlight it was so small and he never had to share a book with another class because three weren’t enough. And he also never had to sit in a “portable” class room either. The school system in florida is one of the worst I have ever seen. Spending money on a sports park isn’t going to help our children academically.
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
[...] two citizens spoke in favor of Championship Park, one of whom admitted to a vested interest as owner of 400 acres nearby which he would like to [...]