Miami (AFP) – St. Petersburg city council members voted 7-1 on Thursday to approve spending $22.5 million on a new teflon-coated fiberglass roof for hurricane-damaged Tropicana Park to allow the Tampa Bay Rays to return in 2026. The enclosed-stadium roof was shredded by Hurricane Milton last October, forcing the Major League Baseball club to play its 2025 home schedule at a minor-league ballpark in nearby Tampa.
The Rays are off to a 4-2 start to the campaign, second in the American League East division, after going 2-1 in home games against Colorado and Pittsburgh at Steinbrenner Field, the 11,000-seat open air pre-season training home of the New York Yankees. Roof repairs must be completed before other repairs can be made to the interior of Tropicana Field in order to get the stadium ready to host Rays home games a year from now.
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The move comes after the Rays backed out of plans for the construction of a new $1.3 billion stadium, which has left the team’s future plans uncertain beyond 2028. The Rays have three more seasons they are obligated to play at Tropicana Field under a current agreement with the city.
City officials told local media they hoped to begin roof repairs by August and have the roof repaired by the end of the year, with work on electronics damaged in last year’s storm hopefully to begin in December. City leaders must still vote upon spending for other stadium repairs such as walls and tiles and the electronics in the venue, with the total cost expected to run about $55.6 million.
© 2024 AFP
