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By JACKIE BARRON
WFLA, News Channel 8
SARASOTA - In a hastily called press conference this morning, Sarasota’s interim city manager leveled a surprise announcement. Peter Schneider blamed lawmakers in Tallahassee and plans to rollback property taxes for putting the Ed Smith Stadium project on hold.
The stadium deal has remained at the center of public debate for nearly a year. The current facility is home to the Cincinnati Reds for spring training. The Reds’ contract expires next year and the team has threatened to move on if the city doesn’t deliver a better facility.
The city had planned to seal a deal in a few weeks with a private developer to help fill a $10 million funding gap on the $54 million dollar project. But Schneider says now that won’t happen. The proposed sports complex would include a brand new stadium for the Reds in addition to keeping the old one for other events. Some leaders inside Sarasota city hall say the city wanted a way out after receiving just two proposals from developers.
When asked if this means the stadium deal is dead in the water Schneider answered, “it absolutely doesn’t.” Schneider went on to explain, “what this means is that we’re taking a pause because we know that there is some state legislative action coming.”
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