[John F]

I posted this originally on one of my blogs (http://www.boltsmag.com/2007/07/06/media-general-ballpark/) and reposted it elsewhere (SSC, FanHome, Sticksoffire.com):

The Tampa Tribune decided to piecemeal several current stadium concepts into one new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays -- You can check out the design and the features on their web site. (http://www.tbo.com/sports/special/raysstadium/)

A retractable roof structure (of the clam-design featured at Miller Park (http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/national/miller.htm) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is employed with minarets (a la the University of Tampa (http://www.utampa.edu/)'s Plant Hall). The model is viewable from 360 degrees and is not an officially proposed stadium for the Rays. This is just wishful thinking by the staff at the Tribune.

No doubt that wishful thinking also includes the stadium being dubbed Tampa Tribune Ballpark, with the stadium located in downtown St. Petersburg. After all, the Tribune needs a retort for the St. Petersburg Times owning naming rights to the arena formerly known as Ice Palace in downtown Tampa (http://www.boltsmag.com/the-st-pete-times-forum/).

There is a forthcoming article about this proposal scheduled to be published this Sunday (7-08-07) in the Tribune.

[hoosier]

The Rays should stay in St. Petersburgh.

Anytime you have a two-city metro area, the sports teams should be split among them. The Wild play in St. Paul and the Florida Panthers play in Sunrise, near Ft. Lauderdale.

[John F]

The Florida Panthers struggle with attendance because the Sunrise arena is out near the sawgrass and in the Suburbs. That's not a location for an arena. I can't say anything about the Minneapolis/St. Paul situation...

The Rays do not draw in St. Petersburg and it's understandable why -- the team sucks. The only time people do turn out are for the Yankees and Red Sox.

The excuse of the venue and location is an arguable one that has been debated since the teams inception. Unlike the Minneapolis/St. Paul comparison, Tampa Bay's geographic separation is much more profound. St. Petersburg is at the tip of the Pinellas County peninsula. Isolated.

[brickell]

nice concept. I'd like it to stay in St. Pete, but I don't live there, just drive up for an occasional weekend series. Having a pedestrian connection to downtown would help.

Given the way things are going, this is probably closer to reality than Miami's new ballpark. Sigh.

[John F]

Brickell, that's saying something. We were musing in another forum about this and came to the conclusion Tampa Bay would sooner land an MLS expansion team AND build a soccer-only stadium before we give the Rays a new ballpark. We're not rewarding futility with a huge investment like this...

[brickell]

I don't think the current ballpark is THAT bad. If they could retrofit it with a retractable roof and put some infill in the parking lot (garage with surface restaurants), it'd make a huge difference. Not that it's any more likely.

I tend to agree with you about the fans. Blaming the location is a stretch, when the play on the field isn't up to matching the ticket prices.

[Arseniq33]

The Concept is nice! I like the fact that it looks like a ray!

[vertex]

Nice design.

BTW, what is a 5-year 'shelf life' (it's mentioned in the timeline)? Is that the amount of time given by the owner to build a new stadium, before he moves the team?

[dallasbrink]

Nice concept, lets just hope they dont have the same problems Milwaukee had with putting in the clam roof.