Working with Tampa Bay to make convention a success

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/working-with-tampa-bay-to-make-convention-a-success/1240199

“Today, the Republican National Convention moves into the Tampa Bay Times Forum and the countdown to making Tampa Bay history is officially on. A small army of carpenters, electricians, glass installers, movers, painters, stagehands, steel fabricators and laborers will go to work, and together they’ll turn a well-known hockey venue into one of America’s greatest icons of democracy: the site of a national political convention.

The Times Forum already has a proud history, having hosted everything from concerts to the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, which saw the Tampa Bay Lightning win professional hockey’s Holy Grail in the seventh game over the Calgary Flames.

Nothing in its 16-year history, though, compares in size or scope to the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Nearly 50,000 people are expected to take part in the convention, including 15,000 media representatives who will shine the world’s spotlight on the Times Forum.

An event of this magnitude involves countless details, and planning for the convention has been ongoing for more than a year and half. Now, with just over 40 days until the opening gavel, we’re about to mobilize hundreds of skilled craftsmen and construction workers who will bring our best-laid plans to fruition.

It will take tens of thousands of man hours to get the Times Forum ready, and the many laborers required for the big transformation will bring tremendous job opportunities and economic benefits to Tampa Bay area residents.”