Paul E. Joseph Stadium Expected To Finally Move Forward As Senators Approve Acquisition Of Additional Land

ST. THOMAS — Construction at the oft-delayed Paul E. Joseph Stadium is expected to begin in short order, after Senate Democrats granted Governor Kenneth Mapp his request of acquiring additional land during an all-day Senate session that went into the wee hours of Thursday morning at the Earl B. Ottley Legislative Hall here. Mr. Mapp said the additional land was needed to mitigate potential flooding issues, as well as for the enhancement of the stadium for sporting tourism use.

Senators who opposed the measure had lingering questions, including queries about who owns the property. Senator Janette Millin Young said Department of Public Works Commissioner Gustav James, who is directly involved in leading the project, suggested that the property may be owned by his family and is directly tied to him.

“I am not going to support this; the question still remains about ownership,” Mrs. Millin Young said. “The commissioner himself said he owns it, his mother owns it, his brother owns it — everybody owns a piece of this thing, and just because they have different last names we’re supposed to be fooled? We need to come together in a transparent way if we want to get anything done in this place.”

Senator Tregenza Roach also had questions, especially with the changes made to the original legislation that was sponsored by Governor Mapp, and with a May 31 measure sponsored by Senator Sammuel Sanes that was ultimately acted upon and forwarded to the governor.

“When the bill was originally presented by the governor, it identified in excess of 90 acres to be purchased at a price of $450,000. When the bill got to committee and the testimony came from the governor’s financial team, the acreage was reduced to 11.53 [acres]… but the purchase price was still left at $450,000 for that parcel.

“The bill we have tonight reduces the acreage to 9.5 acres, it focuses on 4 parcels that weren’t part of the testimony when the financial team was here,” Mr. Roach explained. “So we’ve now reduced [the land acquisition] to 9.5 acres, it does not have a funding source for the purchase of the land, it does not have a purchase price for the land, and so I find it very difficult to reconcile the bill that we have before us with the testimony from the financial team regarding this very same purchase that we said is necessary for the expansion of the completion of the Paul E. Joseph project.”

Mr. Roach said he found it “very troubling” to have a new bill that focused not on the 11.5 acres, but on four separate parcels that totals 9.5 acres.

Mr. Sanes’s original bill, seen here, called for the acquisition of over 60 acres of land at the cost of $450,000. But the amended measure, as pointed out by Mr. Roach, included no funding source and no purchase price.

Even with all these questions, however, Senate Democrats gave Mr. Mapp the additional land that he requested, basing their decision on an eagerness to see construction move forward.

“We have finally received the appraisals, and yes, call me hoodwinked, call me bamboozled, [but] $20 million has been set aside for this and believe me, Paul E. Joseph Stadium has been riddled with controversy from day one, going back to the previous administration,” Senator Novelle Francis said. “I need to put people to work, I need to put an infrastructure in place, so governor, we’re going to purchase the property on your behalf, and I’m hoping, I’m praying — I’m begging you, let us move on this immediately.”

Senator Nereida Rivera-O’Reilly reminded lawmakers that the original measure included language that mandated the contractor to hire local individuals. “I will ensure that the Department of Labor stays on top of the contractor as the project moves on,” she said.

The bill’s approval comes at a critical time for Mr. Mapp, as his first term is at the halfway mark, and a project that was supposed start soon after he took office, has yet to see any substantial construction work. Once signed into law by the governor, activity at the Frederiksted site is expected to see a dramatic increase, which will boost commerce in the town.

With the multiple revisions that were made to the original project, the timeline of completion has yet to be made known. However, the original contract estimated 30 months of work, or 2.5 years.

Senators who voted in favor of the measure included all the Democrats bar Mrs. Millin Young, who voted against it. Other senators voting against the measure were Roach, Alicia Hansen and Dwayne DeGraff. Senator Positive Nelson was absent.