by Steve Wilson
The Tampa Bay Rays ownership said in a letter that a $1.3 billion deal to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg is still in effect and the team is awaiting decisions by local officials on the bonds to help pay for the project.
The letter sent to the Pinellas County Commission on Friday said team Co-President “Brian Auld did not waver from our commitment to the new ballpark project” and blamed the commission for not honoring the spirit of the agreement reached in July to build a new stadium and multi-use development in the historic Gas Plant District.
The team says the deal is in effect until a party terminates the deal and the Rays have fulfilled their obligations.
“We would not have gone forward with the project if a future Pinellas County Commission had the ability to revoke the approval we all celebrated in July or to unilaterally delay the project’s completion into 2029,” team Co-President Matt Silverman said in the letter.
The Rays’ latest communication comes as a response to an letter issued by the commission that gave the team a deadline of Sunday to decide whether the deal went forward.
That contradicts a letter distributed by the team before the county commission meeting on Nov. 19 that said the body’s failure to approve the bonds at its Oct. 29 meeting “ended the ability for a 2028 delivery of the ballpark” and that the Rays can’t absorb the additional costs due to the delay.
Both the County Commission and the St. Petersburg City Council voted last month to delay votes on bonds to finance their part of the stadium, which is to be the anchor of a $6.5 billion development.
The City Council also voted to approve and then delay about $23 million to repair the roof of the Rays’ present home, Tropicana Field, that was heavily damaged by Category 3 Hurricane Milton. The storm tore 18 out of 24 roof panels from the stadium, which was built in 1990. The stadium requires an estimated $55 million in repairs.
The County Commission will take up its share of the bonds to finance a new stadium on Dec. 17, while the City Council will debate the city’s bond issue on Jan. 9.
The Rays will play their home games next year at the New York Yankees’ spring training park, George Steinbrenner Field, next season, with 69 of its final 103 games to be on the road to avoid the region’s rainy season.
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Steve Wilson has been an award-winning writer and editor for nearly 20 years at newspapers in Georgia, Florida and Mississippi and is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and University of Alabama graduate. Wilson is a regional editor for The Center Square.
Photo “Tampa Bay Rays” by CityofStPete. CC BY-ND 2.0.
