St. Petersburg City Council approves plan to renovate Tropicana Field after Milton

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL. The St. Petersburg City Council approved a plan to renovate Tropicana Field on Thursday. It passed the city council meeting 6-2.

As Hurricane Milton tore through Florida, Jake Strickland witnessed one of St. Petersburg’s iconic landmarks destroyed.

“I didn’t even realize the top was fabric, but you could see it coming off in pieces and blowing in the wind and rolling down the street… so it was pretty crazy,” Strickland said.

Tropicana Field now stands with a torn roof and damage inside.

A plan to repair a baseball field is being discussed in St. Petersburg. The plan involves two construction companies, BMS CAT and Hennessy Construction Services.

The project includes removing damaged roof material, removing damaged turf, installing waterproofing materials to protect against future precipitation and nearly $4 million in stadium renovations.

The total cost will be approximately $6.5 million.

But Rays fans are questioning whether the project is worth it.

“They can stay in the area without spending money on a place that’s going to be torn down anyway,” said Patrick Hartley, a Tampa Bay Rays fan.

Earlier this summer, St. Pete and Pinellas County officials voted to move forward with a redevelopment plan for the new Race-Hines Stadium and Gasworks Historic District that is expected to cost approximately $6.5 billion.

Hartley said he would rather have the team play in another nearby stadium than have the city spend so much money renovating a temporary stadium.

“Sometimes I would go to Clearwater or Tampa to watch them play,” Hartley said.

Strickland agrees it’s an expensive undertaking, but says if the city can renovate the stadium so the Rays can continue to play in St. Petersburg, it should be done.

“Obviously getting them ready for the game is the number one thing. If possible, preferably here, obviously it depends on the numbers, but either way I hope to be able to go to the games next year,” Strickland said.

He said it would benefit local businesses for the next three years until the new stadium opens in 2028.

“Obviously, a hurricane is a major issue that’s going to have to be dealt with anyway, so having baseball games that people look forward to is definitely very important because it also brings in money for the city,” he said.