The St. Petersburg, Fla., metropolis council has authorised substitute of the Tropicana Area roof, which was destroyed by Hurricane Milton in 2024, in a 7-1 vote Thursday. Town is contractually obligated to return the stadium to “playable” standing for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The main points, through the Tampa Bay Occasions:
“Town will spend $22.5 million for a brand new teflon-coated fiberglass roof, fabricated from the identical materials as the unique. It is about half of the overall estimated value to repair the stadium, tallied in November at $55.7 million.”
“I might a lot somewhat be spending that cash on hurricane restoration and serving to residents in our most affected neighborhoods,” council member Brandi Gabbard stated, in response to the Occasions, “however that is our obligation.”
The Metropolis of St. Petersburg on Thursday additionally put ahead the next tentative timeline for repairs as soon as the prep work is full:
- August 2025 – Roof substitute begins
- December 2025 – Roof substitute full
- January 2026 – Turf set up, inside repairs start
- March/April 2026 – Repairs full
The Rays are enjoying their dwelling video games for the 2025 season in close by Tampa at George M. Steinbrenner Area, the spring coaching venue of the division-rival New York Yankees and the Single-A Tampa Tarpons’ stadium. That, nevertheless, is a short lived resolution for the 2025 season solely. Town council’s approval of the Tropicana Area roof repairs units the stage for the Rays’ 2026 return to the stadium at which they’ve spent their total existence.
The backdrop, nevertheless, is that the Rays and a number of native officers and governing our bodies have lengthy been at loggerheads over building of a brand new ballpark for the membership and the way a lot of the related prices can be publicly financed. The trail towards a decision has been meandering and tortuous, and eventually test the membership claimed an unwillingness to maneuver ahead with the newest stadium deal. This, amongst different potential penalties, raises the potential for relocation of the membership.
For now, although, evidently the Rays shall be again at Tropicana Area for the 2026 season a minimum of.
