Rays Reveal Design Of Proposed Ybor City Ballpark

TAMPA, FL - The Tampa Bay Rays unveiled the design of a proposed ballpark in Ybor City at a press conference at the Italian Club in Ybor on Tuesday afternoon. The ballpark project price: $892 million, which includes the ballpark price of $809 million.

The Tampa stadium site would be located between Channelside Drive on the west and North 15th Street on the east. The other boundaries are Adamo Drive and E. 4th Avenue.

Some of the ballpark details:

• The ballpark will be enclosed and air conditioned, a requirement for the hot summer months in Tampa Bay. The ballpark would have a fixed translucent roof rather than a retractable roof. Architects said the site was not large enough for a retractable roof. The cost of the roof is about $244 million. The translucent roof will allow light in the ballpark in contrast to the dome at the Ray's current ballpark Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. However, the fixed roof of the new ballpark will not allow for a grass playing field, just like the Trop.
• A 30-foot-tall glass wall behind home plate can open during good weather. Entry plazas and sliding glass exterior walls were designed "to bring the outside in."
• The ballpark will have a capacity of 30,842 with 28,216 fixed seats - the smallest ballpark in Major League Baseball.
• The ballpark will be compatible and respectful of the historic Ybor City neighborhood, according to the Rays.
• The ballpark will have 4,400 parking spaces in the first quarter-mile (about a 5-minute walk) and about 10,000 parking spaces within a 10-minute walk. A 1,000-space parking garage also would be constructed.

The Rays announced the price tag of the project, but did not say how much the team will be willing to pay.

The architectural firm Populous was hired to design a next-generation ballpark. The Rays say the ballpark "will not only be the defining icon for Tampa Bay but will be a catalyst for development for the surrounding neighborhoods and a year-round community asset."

"The most intimate ballpark in MLB will offer a variety of unique seating options. Designed to be fan forward, seats will be concentrated between the fair poles and will be complemented by distinct viewing platforms and social gathering spaces," according to a Rays press release.

The Tampa Bay Rays announced in February that the team's preferred location for a new ballpark was the Ybor City site in Tampa. The Rays have said their current ballpark, Tropicana Field, is outdated.

Critics of Tropicana Field say the St. Pete location creates problems in drawing fans. The Rays have consistently ranked last in fan attendance among major league teams.

Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg has said that the "entire focus" of the team is to get the Ybor City ballpark built. "Ybor City is authentically Tampa Bay. This is where we want to be playing baseball," he said.

The competition for a new Rays stadium site has been waged between Hillsborough and Pinellas counties and the selection of the site last year was considered a significant step in the relocation of the team from St. Petersburg.

Hillsborough and Pinellas are the only counties competing for a new stadium under an agreement between the Rays and the city of St. Petersburg reached in January 2016.

Hillsborough County has reached a deal to gain control of roughly 14 acres in the Ybor City-Channel District area near downtown. The site has access to Ybor parking garages, the street car line (which could be expanded) and a possible marina.

City and county officials have said they will not propose a sales tax increase to pay for a new ballpark, such as the tax hike that generated money for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadium.

Hillsborough County community leaders have created a nonprofit organization Tampa Bay Rays 2020 that is behind the effort to relocate the Rays to Hillsborough County. The organization is privately funded and "dedicated to bringing a new Rays ballpark to Tampa."

Images via Tampa Bay Rays