Rays stadium reportedly can be fixed — with a catch
The Tampa Bay Rays’ current home stadium, Tropicana Field, remains “structurally sound” despite Hurricane Milton’s damage. According to an assessment report sent to the St. Petersburg City Council on Tuesday, it can be repaired for an initial estimate of $55.7 million.
However, according to a report by Marc Topkin and Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times, that assessment comes with the caveat that “The Trop” will not be ready to again host the Rays until Opening Day 2026.
Tropicana Field, an already obsolete Major League Baseball stadium scheduled to be replaced by 2028, faced Milton’s full wrath when the hurricane blew through Florida in early October.
The fiberglass-blend roof of the stadium, which claimed to be “hurricane-proof” when the facility opened in 1990, was torn apart. Without the roof, the stadium’s interior — not built to withstand water — was subjected to heavy water damage.
It wasn’t initially known whether the stadium could once again be made fit to host anything, much less baseball. However, now that the St. Petersburg City Council (where Tropicana Field is located) knows that it can be saved, the question remains whether it will be saved.
With it now known that Tropicana Field will not be able to be used in the 2025 season, city council members will have to determine whether the outdated stadium is worth repairing for just two more years of use by the city’s MLB team.
Construction on the new Rays stadium, to be located in St. Petersburg’s “Gas Plant District,” is scheduled for this January. The planned $1.3 billion ballpark is slated to be ready for Opening Day 2028.
The city of St. Petersburg, which owns the stadium, will be on the hook for much of the amount owed to repair it. Last March, the city reduced the insurance coverage on Tropicana Field from $100 million to $25 million to save $275,000 in insurance premium payments. The current coverage comes with a $22 million deductible.
While the city may decide to go ahead with the repairs to salvage the stadium for future municipal use even after the Rays move into their new home, the initial $55.7 million price tag appears to account for a spartan repair.
The Times quoted City Development Administrator James Corbett, who said in a letter attached to the damage assessment: “(the repair estimate) does not include the cost estimate for replacing the acoustical roof membrane, which was part of the original stadium’s design to enhance sound quality during events.”
That part, Corbett notes, would be added later.
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