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Big race accelerates downtown business life

BY GALINA TISHCHENKO
STAFF WRITER 

The upcoming Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg leaves local business owners and city residents on different sides of the track. Some see the event as a social and economic benefit for the city and its businesses; others regard it as an annoyance.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker said the city benefits from the event in several ways. The commercial revenue brought by the estimated 120,000 tourists the city hosted during last year’s event helped boost local economy, and Baker said he expects at least as many tourists this April. The race attracts national and international media attention to the area and provides local residents with race entertainment of the race and other activities.

“It’s like a four-day festival,” Baker said.

Despite the excessive amount of tourists and excitement of the race, St. Petersburg Police reported no changes in crime rates as a result of the race.

“I have never seen any increased crime problems because of the race,” Bill Proffitt, the police department’s spokesperson, said.

Proffitt said the department utilizes more officers around the area and inside the track by canceling vacation days of the officers. He said this will help make sure the only noises that bother city residents during the days of the event are those of the racing cars.

Local business owners and operators seem to be satisfied with the large crowds the event attracts.

“It’s actually our best week of the year,” Mark Kott, 40, a manager of Midtown Sundries, said. Many event attendees flock to downtown restaurants as an alternative to eating at the race.

“Oh, it’s a little noisy,” Kott said about the race. “But we are used to it.”

Courigan’s, a bar near the track, also receives a lot of customers.

“We were packed through the days,” said Liz Deese, 25, a bartender at Courigan’s, said about last year’s race. Deese said she remembers that the event was good for business.

But not everyone is as happy about the upcoming race. Some downtown residents are concerned with the side effects of the race.

“I don’t know whether it’s the noise or the smell that’s worse,” said Willi Rudowski, a resident of Bayfront Tower Condominium, a complex that faces the track.

Rudowski said the blockage downtown interferes with her morning commute to work.

The residents of another complex, the Madison, say they not only hear the race but can also feel it inside their building.

Deni Elliott, a USF St. Petersburg professor and a Madison resident, said the racing vibrates the building.

“You can’t have a conversation when the cars are going by,” she said.

But Elliott said she appreciates what the race brings to the community.

“It brings a lot of people to St. Petersburg, and I like that,” she said. “I like having a vibrant downtown. Not every city has a Grand Prix.”

Elliott said the positive publicity the event brings to downtown St. Petersburg is worth the noise and smell of burning rubber.

“You can whine about it; you can leave town, or you can have a party,” she said.

USF St. Petersburg students who live in Residence Hall One are also in the middle of the action.

“It didn’t bother me at all,” Kiara Mells, a business major, said about last year’s event.

Humanities major Alex Box said his father used to bring him to the race and that he has always had fun watching it. Box is looking forward to this year’s event.

“I am planning on watching it from the seventh floor,” he said.

Justin Courtier, associate justice of USF St. Petersburg’s student government and a residence life assistant, said he is not thrilled about the race.

“It is kind of obnoxious and annoying,” he said. “It kind of shuts down downtown [with] a lot of crazy people, children, beer bottles all over the place,” he said. “It’s really, really, really loud. It’s a bother.”

In response to all the opinions, Baker said that although the city does receive some grievances about the event, not many complaints are made each year.

“You can always find people to complain,” the mayor said.

But the complaints will not stop the race from coming to town the weekend of April 4. Ticket prices range from $10 for children (under 12 years) for general admission to $110 for three-day adult admission with reserved seating.