TAMPA - Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan on Thursday endorsed further study of the viability of a West Shore Business District conference center and agreed it would not compete with the Tampa Convention Center.

Iorio reiterated a position she took in November that the county's plan for light rail would mesh with drawing business travelers arriving at Tampa International Airport to a West Shore light-rail station. Iorio affirmed her stance at a meeting Thursday of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority. She and Hagan are board members.

Neither the conference center site nor light-rail routes have been selected, although discussion among West Shore business people has raised the prospect of a conference center at or near Jefferson High School.

The school, 4401 W. Cypress St., is just north of Interstate 275 and east of North West Shore Boulevard, in the heart of the West Shore hotel district.

Light-rail terminal locations would depend on the route, which is expected to be finalized by June.

Light rail's future, however, depends on a 1 cent sales tax increase that is likely to be on the ballot in November.

One West Shore option would be to combine light rail with buses at the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority station scheduled to open in 2011 at O'Brien and Spruce streets, which is about half a mile from another potential light-rail site near Trask and Cypress streets.

The Hillsborough County Tourist Development Council is expected next week to consider funding further study of conference center options.

Iorio said the high-speed rail plan to link Tampa and Orlando by late 2014 - touted last week by President Barack Obama - ideally would use local light rail for local connections. A high-speed rail extension from Orlando to Miami is envisioned by late 2017, pending funding.

"High-speed rail will have a huge economic boost for Tampa, Orlando and Miami," Iorio said, adding that 67 percent of the state's population is along the corridor.

Whether high-speed rail will help, hurt or have no effect on airports along the way remains to be seen, Iorio said.

The first high-speed route will have a station at Orlando International Airport but not in downtown Orlando, compared with stopping in downtown Tampa and airport connections relying on light rail.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817.