PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The City of St. Pete and Pinellas County are coming up with options for what to turn Tropicana Field into after the 2028 baseball season.
Ideas such as a water park and green space have been floated, but the most recent proposal is for a convention center.
One resident, Kyandra Darling, is a descendant of the Historic Gas Plant District and said what happens to the development is important.
WATCH: Study to possibly turn Tropicana Field into a convention center underway
"They share with me stories of what it was like to be there, to have family members there and friends right on the same block. Businesses, churches, just a community they didn't have to leave and those stories that they share with a lot of pride," said Darling.
Darling's grandparents grew up in the Historic Gas Plant District.
"It's very difficult because I can see that they were also a part of that destruction of a community and that they've not been able to be returned back to," said Darling.
Decades ago, the Historic Gas Plant community was displaced to make room for Tropicana Field.
In return, residents were promised economic opportunities and growth, but those promises were never fulfilled.
"That sense of community has not been restored, and now we have people splitting into different neighborhoods who don't have access to the same resources within walking distance and i mean it just shattered really a sense of a village," said Darling.
The new stadium deal also made promises, but after it fell through, the City of St. Pete and Pinellas County leaders are having to pick up the pieces.
They are now trying to come up with possible ways to use Tropicana Field after the 2028 baseball season.
The most recent idea is a convention center.
City council leaders received an email on Wednesday night informing them about a feasibility study for a convention center that is expected to be completed.
The study will include research on job creation and economic growth.
Ginger Galloway wants to see a center that will attract more local businesses.
"Having facilities that would be able to bring in more events and conventions and in commerce to the area would be fantastic," said Galloway.
Sandina Point Du Jour wants to see more jobs and housing.
"I feel like we can all agree on the housing situation. I feel like it's a little elevated for most people so getting some kind of affordable housing. I feel like it would help especially in this area," said Du Jour.
Darling also wants to see economic opportunities and housing for people, but she also wants to bring back something that can't necessarily be built.
She wants to preserve the history of what her grandparents knew as home.
"Public spaces that people can enjoy together and that fostering of community, and certainly some telling of the story there and to see that that threaded throughout that project. It's a huge opportunity for us to tell the story and embrace that part of our history," said Darling.
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