ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — UPDATE: The St. Pete City Council unanimously agreed Thursday to spend more money on repairs to Tropicana Field.

They have signed off on nearly $1 million of work, with most of that money going to a construction company that will identify what needs fixing.

Fifty-five thousand dollars will go to a team that removes some metal panels from the roof.

The city is bound by its deal with the Rays to fix the damage Milton inflicted on Tropicana Field, but they're only required to provide a place for the Rays to play games.

The current timeline has workers installing new turf in January 2026, which would be the last thing to do before players could play there. That puts the team possibly back in the stadium by next season.

 

PREVIOUS STORY: The costs of making repairs to Tropicana Field are already proving pricier than originally thought, city documents show.


St. Petersburg City Council members will be asked Thursday to approve a roughly $55,000 cost-adjustment for the field’s roof demolition services.

The change order form from Global Rope Access, a construction company that specializes in unique repair projects, states the increase is due to weather delays and the removal taking longer than originally estimated.

This is the second cost-adjustment to take place following the initial emergency authorization of $416,353 that was needed to remove the damaged roof fabric.

What You Need To Know

  •  City billed an additional $55,000 for roof demolition services

  •  Council members will be asked to approve nearly $900,000 for pre-contruction work, which was part of the original proposal 

  •  A proposed timeline for construction shows the new roof will start going on in August 

  • MORE: Previous Bay News 9 Rays stadium stories

City council members will also be asked Thursday to approve close to $900,000 for pre-construction work with Hennessy/AECOM Hunt.

St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch and City Council members will also be briefed on the proposed timeline for construction.

The city's timeline shows that they’re currently in the roof replacement pre-construction phase. From April to August, the contractor teams plan to order, prep, and deliver the new roof fabric. Installation of the new roof is estimated to be between August and November.

Other repairs to the building will take place from July to February 2026, with the final step being new turf installation in December of this year.

The current contract has the Tampa Bay Rays playing at Tropicana Field through 2027.

During the State of the City address earlier this week, Mayor Welch said the city is prepared if the Rays decide to walk away from the stadium deal. This is the first time he publicly acknowledged that the deal could be in jeopardy.

Welch said he wanted to be transparent with the community and that the city has a backup plan should the deal fall through.

“You really hate to have to go back to square one,” he said to reporters following the speech. “But if that’s the case, to me the most important thing is retaining that land and not the previous development rights the Rays would have had through 2027.”

Welch went on to say that the land will come back to the city and they will have options if the Rays don’t move forward.

The Rays have until the end of March to complete their obligations and that’s when the city should know more about the deal, Welch said.