PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Petersburg City Council has approved funding to fix the hurricane-damaged roof at Tropicana Field.
The council voted 7-1 to approve $22.5 million in funding to repair the stadium’s torn-off roof. Councilman Richie Floyd was the lone no vote.
The city was contractually obligated to make repairs to the facility.
The council will still have to vote on additional repairs to walls, panels, tiles and electronics inside the stadium.
Officials said repair work on the roof is expected to begin in June.
Floyd had questions as to what the legal ramifications would be if the city didn’t replace the roof, but ultimately, they are under contract with the Rays to get the Trop back up and running.
“The administration stated that it just wasn’t financially responsible for us to come to a settlement with the Rays but they never showed us the numbers that that they had talked about that led them to that decision,” Floyd said. “I didn’t feel it was my responsibility to just say ‘oh I just trust you.’
“I need to see the numbers for myself to be able to come to that conclusion as well and they may very well be right and if that is the case I’d be happy to go along with them.”
City officials did express concerns about a timetable and additional costs on repair work. The new roof materials are fabricated in Germany and assembled in China, bringing up tariff concerns.
However, the council said contractors said they can complete the work in time for the Rays to play their 2026 season back at the Trop.
VENDERS EXPRESS OPTIMISM FOR RAYS FIX
St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch confirmed shortly after the roof was ripped off the ballpark during Hurricane Milton that the city was contractually obligated to fix it. Thursday’s vote is set to be the first in a handful of funding votes where the city is asking council members to formally approve the fixes needed for the Rays to return to the Trop.
While the Rays backed out of the new ballpark plans, co-owner Stu Sternberg stated last month that the Rays intend to return to Tropicana Field for Opening Day of 2026.
Tanner Loebel, co-owner of Pacific Counter in downtown St. Pete, is also hoping to return to the Trop next spring.
He and two partners opened the fresh sushi and poke bowl restaurant’s first location in 2018 and soon after had the opportunity to open up a shop inside the ballpark concourse.
“We had a steady staff that worked there, some of them who had worked there all six years,” he said.
Loebel said their tenure at Tropicana Field started in 2019 with their initial food stand in the First Base Food Hall. Soon after, they were offered the prime spot on the Center Field Porch.
That location proved unlucky during Hurricane Milton, as Loebel said during a tour he received of the damage he learned his shop was one of the hardest hit spots in the entire ballpark.
“Unfortunately we have to replace all of our equipment and all of our signage because it’s all gone,” he said.
Loebel said he tried to get Pacific Counter into Steinbrenner Field for this season, but there are fewer spots for vendors and the logistics on a one-year deal didn’t pan out. He says he just signed a five-year contract last year that would take them through the Trop’s last season, and that contract was extended for an additional year to coincide with the Rays’ lease.
One of the best parts of their Tropicana Field shop, he says, is the exposure they get that drives customers to their Central Avenue location during the off season.
Loebel’s hope is the roof can get repaired and they can take their spot in center field once again while the Rays return home to the Trop for Opening Day 2026.
“Obviously we hold out hope for a brand new St. Pete stadium one day… but we’ll take it one thing at a time right now,” he said.
Thursday’s vote is expected to be the first in a series of votes related to repair funding for Tropicana Field.
