Rays push for swift approval of financing deal for new Tampa Bay ballpark, part of $6B development
The Tampa Bay Rays are pushing for swift approval of a financing deal for a new 30,000-seat ballpark, part of a much larger $6 billion redevelopment project that includes affordable housing, a hotel, a Black history museum and many other items
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays are pushing for swift approval of a financing deal for a new 30,000-seat ballpark, part of a much larger $6 billion redevelopment project that includes affordable housing, a hotel, a Black history museum and many other items.
The St. Petersburg City Council on Thursday got its first detailed public look at the ballpark financing plan, which will be shared by the city, Pinellas County, the Rays and their Hines company partner. Brian Auld, the team's co-president, said the goal is to obtain government approvals by March so that construction can stay on schedule for opening day of the 2028 season.
“If we miss that opening date, this entire endeavor becomes impossible. We cannot put these dates at risk along the way,” Auld said.
The new $1.3 billion ballpark would be located on the same 86-acre (34-hectare) tract of downtown land where Tropicana Field now sits. That domed stadium, which the Rays have called home since 1998, would be demolished. The deal initially announced last month would lock the Rays into their new home for at least 30 years, ending speculation the team would move to Tampa or perhaps another city.
It also would keep what Mayor Ken Welch has said were promises made to a majority-Black neighborhood known as the Gas Plant District that was displaced for the existing Rays stadium and an interstate highway. Promises for economic opportunity for those residents made decades ago never came to fruition, he said.
“It does all of
Read more on abcnews.go.com
