ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — With the Tampa Bay Rays now entering their fifth straight postseason, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch says it's all the more special knowing, "we are closer than ever to building our Rays a new home right here in St. Petersburg.”
Welch was joined by other city and county leaders, as well as Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg, to raise a Rays flag Tuesday morning outside City Hall.
“We’ll be here for all the fans and all the supporters around the Tampa Bay region for years to come, and we are really excited about it,” Sternberg said.
The flag-raising came two weeks to the day after the team and Welch announced a historic agreement to keep the Rays in St. Pete as part of a multi-billion-dollar redevelopment project in the heart of downtown.
The $1.3 billion project includes a state-of-the-art ballpark, housing, retail, entertainment and recreation space and a new home for the Woodson African American Museum of Florida. The Rays are set to put up $600 million; anything over cost, the city and Pinellas County will be on the hook for roughly $300 million each.
So, what's next? While those in charge are confident the plans will see themselves through, it’s not a done deal, yet.
Key votes will have to be held at the county level to approve using revenue generated by the hotel tax on the project. Commissioners meet in two weeks.
"I'm hopeful that we can bring our part of it to a close by the end of this year,” Pinellas County Commission Chair Janet Long said.
Long, an ardent supporter of the team and the project, says term sheet discussions will begin in an upcoming workshop. Right now, it's unclear when it will be on the agenda for a vote, but "you can be assured that there are several of us pushing hard to get this deal done,” she added.
Votes at the city council level won't happen until after the county approves, though their government approval process and Community Benefits Agreement is slated to begin this fall.
While some have protested the use of public funds for the development, "This is simply a land grab. It is our government selling us out to billionaires,” Bishop Manuel Sykes said.
Others say, "If you want to keep a team, that's going to have to happen,” said Rays fans Ray and Rosie Lorenzo. The couple has been cheering them on at Tropicana Field for more than 20 years and hope leaders do everything they can to keep them cheering in a new park in the near future.
"When we're here for all these years, we're going to have a real solid fanbase,” Ray added.
Leaders say the goal is to break ground by the end of next year, right when the Rays are hopefully, wrapping up a sixth straight postseason run.