St. Pete plans for stadium’s uncertain future

HKS Architects in September will deliver to the City of St. Petersburg alternative master plans for development of an 85-acre site, one that includes – and another that excludes — the home field of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays team is considering alternatives to its home field at Tropicana Field, also known as the Trop, an enclosed ball park with a bubble-top roof near Interstate 275 in St. Petersburg.

The enclosed stadium has been the home field of the Rays since their inception in 1989. In January, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman gave his approval to a plan permitting the Rays to shop for another stadium location inside or outside the city.

HKS is scheduled to deliver a master plan that retains Tropicana Field at the 85-acre site September 30, and the firm later will present an alternative plan assuming the stadium’s elimination from the site.

St. Petersburg citizens have made their own suggestions at public meetings the city organized to solicit comments about the future of Tropicana Field.

Green space and a new baseball park where among the suggested uses for the 85-acre site at a July 18 meeting attended by more than 100 people. [News Talk Florida] – Mike Seemuth