“I firmly believe that St. Petersburg and that location is the best long- term location for the team”, Kriseman said.
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Since 1998, their inaugural season when they were the Devil Rays, Tampa Bay has played at Tropicana Field in downtown St. Petersburg.
The Rays will pay 50 percent for a new city directed master plan for redeveloping the Tropicana Field site. The Rays gets nothing if it leaves before the end of the lease.
The team and the city council have tried to come to agreement various times over the years, including at least three instances since December 2014. The team balked at that idea.
“I would like to think that it works both for the Rays organization, it works for you all as representatives of the city of St. Petersburg”, Sternberg said. Mr. Sternberg’s patience and persistence throughout the franchise’s long-standing efforts have illustrated his commitment to the fans of the region. Of course, the city does have a vested interest in allowing the Rays to look, as the land underneath Tropicana Field and its parking lots may be worth more to the city for development. “We look forward to further progress in the weeks and months ahead as the Rays strive to ensure the future of the franchise with a first-class ballpark in the region”. If the team chooses that as the site for its new stadium (assuming the landowner is willing to sell), Buckhorn said taking care of the population now living there would be the biggest challenge, but he’s confident the situation would be remedied, likely with vouchers that would allow those residents to move to the area of their choice. Public funding of a stadium would also be a question mark, but Buckhorn said neither he nor officials at the county level are willing to raise taxes for residents (though upping taxes on tourist amenities might be an option).
The Tampa Bay Times (http://goo.gl/OnYk2T ) reports that the agreement approved Thursday gives the Rays 60 days to outline, in writing, the process the team will use to evaluate sites.
Mayor Buckhorn says Tampa and baseball are a natural fit.
In Hillsborough County, there are several sites in the Downtown Tampa, Ybor or Westshore areas to consider.
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For everything history has shown us about building new stadiums and moving teams (even within a general area), this won’t be a quick-and-easy process.
