Tropicana Field will not be ready for play until at least the start of the 2026 season, according to a three-week damage assessment report provided to the St. Petersburg City Council and reviewed by The Athletic.
The 412-page report, published by Hennessy Construction Services, estimates that the total cost of repairs will be $55.72 million following significant damage to the facility due to Hurricane Milton on Oct. 10.
The most expensive of those repairs will be needed for the roof, which costs an estimated $23.6 million to fix. It is unclear if the City of St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay Rays intend to renovate the ballpark, or look for a different option entirely. The Tampa Bay Times first reported the results of the assessment.
“We’ll continue to have discussions with the city about how to move forward,” Rays president Matt Silverman said in a statement.
The Rays plan to open a new stadium in St. Petersburg in 2028, creating a question as to whether investing in this repair is financially sensible for the franchise and the city. In the meantime, it is clear that the league will need to find the Rays a temporary facility for its 2025 home schedule. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he hoped to have a resolution on where the Rays will play by Christmas.
According to the assessment report timeline, final completion for repairs would be scheduled just days before the start of the 2026 season. Construction would begin in March 2025, according to the assessment, with the roof replacement beginning in June.
“Overall, the stadium appears structurally sound and would be a viable candidate to continue to serve the City (should they so decide) in providing continued service following hurricane damage repairs,” Hennessy Construction Services wrote in the conclusion of their report.
The report also found that the administrative areas were affected by wind and water damage. Audio and visual systems were affected, and a new playing surface will be needed. The building’s exterior was “mostly intact” with the majority of the damage to the fabric roof and portions of the exterior metal panel system.
The cost estimate includes that all cables and connections supporting the roof will need to be replaced. In total, there were $39.1 million in damages from the hurricane. The city council already voted, 6-2, on October 31, to approve a $6.5 project that would include removing damaged roof and turf remnants.
It is possible that the worst of the damage could have been avoided. Geiger Engineering was responsible for the roof’s installation in 1989. The company’s principal, David Campbell, told The Athletic following the hurricane in October that the roof had long been due for an upgrade. The fabric had been designed to withstand the winds it faced.
“They plan to be in a new building in the not-too-distant future. And they were hoping, I think, to make it,” said Campbell, who recently inspected the facility for this assessment report. “… The fabric is very, very old now.”
Geiger Engineering recommended within the assessment that the dome be “covered in all new outer fabric panels,” and that the new fabric would have to be different from what had been atop the stadium the past 35 years.
The changes, Geiger noted, could be positive.
“This will result in a change in the ballpark’s ‘room’ acoustics, making it ‘livelier,’” Geiger wrote. “All things being equal, light transmission through the dome will be greater.”
(Top photo of Tropicana Field: Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
