{"id":159371,"date":"2026-02-18T05:16:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T05:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159371\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T05:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T05:16:17","slug":"city-says-tropicana-field-is-on-schedule-and-on-budget-for-rays-return-the-crows-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159371\/","title":{"rendered":"City says Tropicana Field is \u201con schedule and on budget\u201d for Rays\u2019 return\u00a0 \u2013 The Crow’s Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo by Maria Jose Solis | The Crow\u2019s Nest<\/p>\n

By Matthew McGovern<\/p>\n

After a nearly 18-month long repair process following damage sustained by Hurricane Milton in 2024, Tropicana Field repairs are nearing completion in St. Petersburg.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Maria Jose Solis | The Crow\u2019s Nest.<\/p>\n

With a new roof, freshly laid turf, a fresh interior paint job and a handful of newly upholstered seats, Beth Herendeen, St. Petersburg\u2019s city development administration\u2019s managing director, says Tropicana Field should be ready to host the Tampa Bay Rays on opening day in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Maria Jose Solis | The Crow\u2019s Nest.<\/p>\n

In September 2024, Tropicana Field lost its patented, white-paneled roof and sustained significant interior damage from Hurricane Milton\u2019s 100 mph winds and torrential rainfall.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Maria Jose Solis | The Crow\u2019s Nest.<\/p>\n

The new roof was completed in November 2025 with an approximately $60 million contribution from the City of St. Petersburg. It\u2019s an upgrade from the original roof installed in the 1980\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new roof is designed and engineered for new hurricane standards,\u201d Herendeen said. \u201cThe roof material is technically the same\u2026 the manufacturer of that process has improved over time, so the roof is a superior product to the original.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Maria Jose Solis | The Crow\u2019s Nest.<\/p>\n

Working in tandem with Rays\u2019 ownership, which has changed since 2024, the City of St. Petersburg oversaw various repairs, including roof replacement, a new sound system and rebuilding of home and away clubhouses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Maria Jose Solis | The Crow\u2019s Nest.<\/p>\n

The Rays will be spearheading its own set of upgrades and repairs, and according to Herendeen, there is no established timeline for the team\u2019s plans. <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cSo far, we fully anticipate to be ready for opening day and for the Rays to move back in,\u201d Herendeen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Rays will play against the Chicago Cubs on Tropicana Field\u2019s April 6 opening day.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 101 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"More<\/a>
Written by: Matthew McGovern<\/a> on February 17, 2026.
Last revised by: Alisha Durosier<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Maria Jose Solis | The Crow\u2019s Nest By Matthew McGovern After a nearly 18-month long repair…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-159371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}