Tampa Bay Rays say new stadium unlikely to be prepared for 2028 season, if in any respect

A mix of extreme hurricane harm to Tropicana Field and political delays over funding means it’s extremely unlikely the Tampa Bay Rays’ deliberate new stadium shall be prepared for the 2028 season, if in any respect, the workforce mentioned Tuesday.

Rays prime officers mentioned in a letter to the Pinellas County Commission that the workforce has already spent $50 million on preliminary work on the brand new $1.3 billion discipline and can’t proceed additional resulting from delays in approval of bonds for the general public share of prices.

“The Rays group is saddened and shocked by this unlucky flip of occasions,” reads the letter, signed by co-chairmen Brian Auld and Matt Silverman, who level out that the general mission was beforehand authorised by the County Commission and the town of St. Petersburg.

“As we’ve got made clear at each stage of this course of, an approximate supply by 2029 would contain considerably greater prices that we’re unable to soak up on our personal,” the letter provides.

The tumultuous sequence of occasions got here after Hurricane Milton tore the roof off Tropicana Field on Oct. 9, forcing the Rays to play the 2025 season on the New York Yankees’ spring coaching house, 11,000-seat Steinbrenner Field in Tampa . Then, the Pinellas County Commission postponed a scheduled Oct. 29 vote on the bond subject that the Rays mentioned upset the brand new 30,000-seat timeline.

Hurricane Milton broken the roof of Tropicana Field in October. (Photo by Bryan R. SMITH/AFP) (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP by way of Getty Images)

The fee met once more on Tuesday on the bond subject, however its chairman prompt that the vote might be postponed once more.

“We know we shall be at Steinbrenner in 2025 and we do not know a lot past that,” Auld mentioned in an interview.

Asked whether or not Major League Baseball can survive long-term within the Tampa Bay space, Rays principal proprietor Stuart Sternberg mentioned the outlook is “much less rosy than it was three weeks in the past. We’ll do the whole lot we are able to, as we’ve got tried for 20 years, to maintain the Rays right here for generations to come back.”

The workforce’s contract with the town of St. Petersburg requires the Rays to play three extra seasons at Tropicana Field, assuming it’s repaired. The price to repair up the stadium in time for the 2026 season is pegged at greater than $55 million for a constructing that shall be demolished when the brand new facility is prepared.

Under the unique plan, Pinellas County would spend about $312.5 million on the brand new ballpark and the town of St. Petersburg about $417 million, together with infrastructure enhancements. The Rays and their companion, improvement firm Hines, would cowl remaining prices, together with any overruns.

It’s not simply baseball that is being affected. The new Rays ballpark is a component of a bigger city renewal mission generally known as the Historic Gas Plant District, which refers to a predominantly black neighborhood that was pressured out by the development of Tropicana Field and a freeway spur interstate.

The bigger $6.5 billion mission would rework a 34-acre tract within the metropolis middle, with plans within the coming years for a black historical past museum, reasonably priced housing, a resort, inexperienced areas, leisure venues , places of work and retailers. house. There can also be the promise of 1000’s of jobs.

Associated Press reporting.

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