What The New Rays Stadium In St. Pete Could Look Like
We have a major update for the new Rays stadium! St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch announced his choice for the redevelopment of Tropicana Field on Monday, Jan. 30. During the State of the City address, he revealed that the partner for the development of the Historic Gas Plant District Will be the Hines & Rays development team.
The St. Pete mayor did his homework before making the decision. He considered which development would work with his plan to preserve history, include affordable housing, and accommodate a state-of-the-art baseball stadium. Welch stated during the address “I am fully confident that this decision is the best path forward for our city.”
So what comes next?
Now that we know that the Rays are staying in St. Petersburg, what are the next steps in the process? Well, the City of St. Petersburg and the Hines & Rays development team will work together to come up with the required paperwork. From that step, the City Council will then vote on their proposal.
While a lot of people wish that Jeff Vinik would take over the Rays stadium project, it doesn’t seem like that will be the case. Time is quickly running out for Hillsborough County to make their pitch for the new stadium.
What can we expect it to look like?
According to the proposal from Hines/Rays, the expected stadium can hold 30,000 people. The space will be used for civic events, concerts, festivals, and of course Rays baseball. They expect the use of distinctive overhangs, canopies, outdoor terraces, and a unifying square-hipped roof. Mark Wilson from Fox 13 News actually tweeted some mock ups of what we can expect the new DTSP to look like. Check it out below.
IMAGES: From Rays/Hines Development proposal Mayor Welch selected today. Details on Ballpark funding must still be agreed upon but does this tip the scale to St. Pete keeping the Rays? If Hillsborough has a plan or even location, they're running out of time to make their pitch... pic.twitter.com/LwueN3fOA7
— Mark Wilson FOX13 (@MarkWilsonTV) January 30, 2023