(The Center Square) – The St. Petersburg City Council reversed course on Thursday and won’t be spending money to repair the Tampa Bay Rays’ existing stadium after approving it only two hours before.
The council also voted to delay a vote on bonds to finance a new home for the team, a deal that team officials say is dead despite assurances from St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch that the agreement is still in play.
The repairs to Tropicana Field could’ve gotten the stadium ready for 2026, but Rays co-President Brian Auld told the council he doesn’t think the indoor stadium will be repaired in time for the 2026 season.
The City Council, by 4-3 on Thursday, initially approved spending money to repair Tropicana Field. The estimated cost is $55 million, with $26.3 million needed in just the roof replacement alone.
The city says insurance, which the city is insured to $22.5 million, and FEMA funds could cover the stadium repairs.
Eighteen of its 24 roof panels were blown off by Category 3 Hurricane Milton, which made landfall near Siesta Key on Oct. 9.
City officials say they’ve cleaned up the torn roof panels and other debris and seal off internal offices and suites as part of a $6.5 million initial contract designed to preserve the stadium from the elements and get it ready for repairs.
The new roof material, polytetrafluoroethylene, is a coated woven fiberglass membrane and would have to be sourced from outside the United States.
Officials from Hennessy Construction Services said installation of the roof would’ve started in June or July and likely would’ve been completed in October or November.
The council also voted 5-2 to delay a vote on $333.5 million worth of bonds to build a $1.2 billion new stadium, a deal to build was reached by Pinellas County, the city and the team in July. Of that amount, $75 million would be for stadium-related infrastructure and $212.5 million would be for stadium-eligible costs.
The bond issue vote would be delayed until the council’s meeting on Jan. 9.
The repayment would be done via tax increment financing, which is a method by which future property tax revenue increases from a defined area are used to pay for economic development projects.
The county commission voted this week to delay a vote on its share of the bonds until its next meeting on Dec. 17.
Welch said the city would work on the Pinellas County Commission before its meeting on the bond issue and would brief each commissioner on the need for the project. He also said the fundamental details of the deal haven’t changed in three months.
The letter distributed by the team before the county commission meeting said the body’s failure to approve the bonds last month “ended the ability for a 2028 delivery of the ballpark” and that the Rays can’t absorb the additional costs due to the delay.
Auld told the council that the letter, which said that an “enormous investment of human and financial capital has been jeopardized by the county’s failure to live up to its July agreement” was not intended to be threatening.
“Very sorry about the way this is coming across,” Auld said. “I think it’s crucial that we all deal with the facts on the ground.”
The Rays also said it’s spent $50 million on the project already. The team said in the letter it will “work with any willing partners” on a new deal.
Under the deal, the Rays would receive $600 million from taxpayers for the Tropicana Field replacement, which was scheduled to open in 2028 and anchor a $6.5 billion development in the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District.
The team will play its games next season at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa and will pay the New York Yankees $15 million to do so, a new point of contention with the new stadium deal. The park is part of the Yankees’ spring training complex.
