City council vote could enable a new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark — and the old site's transformation

A key city council vote could pave the way to give the Tampa Bay Rays a new 30,000-seat ballpark as part of a $6.5 billion redevelopment project in St. Petersburg, Florida. The new park would guarantee the team stays for at least 30 years. Supporters say the overall project would transform an 86-acre tract in the city’s downtown to include a Black history museum, affordable housing, a hotel, green space, entertainment venues and office and retail space. There’s the promise of thousands of jobs as well. The site, where the Rays’ domed Tropicana Field now sits, was once a thriving Black community driven out by construction of the ballpark and an interstate highway.