The St. Petersburg City Council unanimously approved a downtown waterfront master plan early Thursday morning. One of the proposals of the plan that will be of interest to Tampa Bay Rowdies is maintaining the sporting legacy of the Al Lang site, with the Rowdies as a hopeful primary tenant.

It’s important to note that the newly adopted plan is not a mandate, but rather guideline as the city moves forward in the redevelopment of the seven-mile stretch of valuable St. Petersburg waterfront. Most major projects in the redevelopment, including an extension and renovation to further convert Al Lang into a more soccer-centric facility, or an entirely new multi-use venue will require a public referendum.

A city charter revision from several years ago required that a waterfront plan be adopted by the city by July of this year. A controversial proposal to build a new hotel and conference center in close proximity to Al Lang and the Mahaffey Theater caused the city council to delay the vote back in May. That proposed hotel and conference center have been removed from the plan.

The official process for formulating a waterfront plan began back in August of 2014 and was conducted by AECOM, a global architectural and urban planning company. According to the proposal presented to the city council, converting Al Lang to a more soccer-friendly venue for Rowdies was one of the proposals to gain the most positive feedback from public and online input sessions. Opening up Al Lang to host youth sporting events in addition to professional sports also gained positive traction with the public. In fact, Al Lang was highlighted as one of biggest potential tourism draws in the redevelopment plan.

The waterfront plan suggests some major changes to the area directly surrounding Al Lang to improve the “Sports, entertainment, and culture zone.” The planners divided the entire waterfront into six separate districts, with the Al Lang falling into the South Basin District. The proposal calls for the Al Lang parking lot to be permanently converted into a public plaza. The proposal also suggests that the area in between the Mahaffey and Al Lang be converted into a mixed-used pedestrian zone that would empty out to a ferry station that would carry visitors to and from across the Bay.

There is no set timeline for any of the major projects listed in the waterfront plan and the majority of funding for the major projects will need to be discussed and debated before any significant steps forward can be taken.