Initial Tropicana Field roof repairs approved by City Council

The St. Petersburg City Council met this morning and approved cash toward repairs to Tropicana Field’s roof. This vote specifically approved $22.5 million which will be for the fabrication and installation of the roof, and does not include interior repairs.

The city councilmembers were in broad agreement that allocating the money to repair the roof was necessary for the city to fulfil it’s contractual obligation to make Tropicana Field playable — an obligation that they understood would also include further interior repairs that have yet to be fully priced.

The lone dissenting vote came from Councilmember Richie Floyd, a long-time stadium spending skeptic, who said that he understood the contractual obligation but that he wanted to see a price comparison between repairs and a settlement with the Rays that would buy them out of the use agreement. Without seeing that direct comparison, he wasn’t certain repairing the Trop was the most cost effective path.

Councilmember Lisset Hanewicz’s response was that the city has tried to investigate the buyout option, but that they need a willing partner to work out terms on a buyout, and the Rays have not been that. Accordingly, it hasn’t been possible to come to a settlement for direct comparison, and failing to move ahead with the repairs might leave the city open to legal action that could either compel them to approve the repairs or possible asses damages.

As an aside, it’s worth noting that it may actually behoove the city to wait on providing a buyout of the Rays. Should a new owner be interested in purchasing the Rays, there’s a plausible scenario where the team might want to leave Tropicana Field sooner than the 2029 season, and any team owner would need to likely pay their own settlement to get out.

Also worth noting: Several councilmembers voiced worry that the recently announced tariffs would raise the prices on this project beyond what was covered in the allocated $100K contingency, but as of right now it was not clear how those tariffs would or would not apply. Roof materials will reportedly be created in Germany and assembled in China before making their way to St. Petersburg, FL.

However you slice it, this was an important step for the city to continue fulfilling its obligation to provide a place for the Rays to play, starting next season, but there are many more spending battles that could be on the horizon.