ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Many of St. Petersburg's city council members were all in the same room Wednesday night for the first time since the city report came out showing how much it would cost to repair Tropicana Field.
While some city council members expected the future of the stadium to be a talking point at the city's “Hurricane Recovery and Resource Meeting” held at the Colesium, the two-hour meeting wrapped before the topic came up.
City council members now have until their next formal meeting on Thursday, Nov. 21, to review the 412-page damage report. The agenda states council members will discuss both the Trop’s storm-related costs report and bonds related to funding for the new stadium and Historic Gas Plant District.
The damage report indicates repairs would run past $55 million and not be completed before the 2026 season. Repairs to the roof alone will run $23.6 million.
The Rays will play their 2025 home games at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
City Council Chair Deborah Figgs-Sanders says she's grateful the report has been completed and released.
"Now we have actual numbers to work with," she said. "But at the end of the day, we were contractually obligated to make the decision that the mayor made.”
Figgs-Sanders says under the current agreement, it is up to the city to foot the bill for repairs.
“We definitely want to have our resources … we want to talk to legal and we want to have those conversations to make sure that we understand that that was the only option we had,” she said. “So, we’re still going through it, because it’s a major decision to have made, but at the end of the day we were contractually obligated,” she said.
While the cost to repair Tropicana Field to get the Rays back inside by the 2026 season is one part of the puzzle, the second is the brand-new stadium that officials say will be completed by opening day of 2028.
Ron Diner is a longtime resident and head of the citizen-led group No Home Run, which is against the new stadium. He says he’s hoping this gives the city the chance to take a hard look at the deal.
“If suddenly we have a reputation that we have a huge problem with our sewers and our toilets that don’t flush, businesses maybe won’t come here,” he said. “They’re going to have trouble attracting people who want to live here and worry about all these things. Why wouldn’t we put our priorities on what matters?”
He feels major issues with wastewater and flooding that surfaced during the hurricanes should be city’s priority.
“I want them to look residents in the face who have all of their belonging out in front of them and say… instead of fixing the sewer plants, or fixing the seawalls, or protecting the infrastructures, we’re going to put it into a stadium,” he said.