Recently, leaders of the Tampa Bay Rays discussed plans for the new stadium with dozens of members of Suncoast Tiger Bay at Tropicana Field.

At the meeting, Brian Auld – the Rays’s team president – talked about the stadium and how it will impact the community. He mentioned the plans for construction and how they affect the city.

While foremost a baseball team, the Rays try to be an “outstanding citizen.” For example, the team sent a plane to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, Auld said.

Auld said the new Rays stadium will be similar to the St. Pete Pier as it will also have parks and shops for everyone to enjoy.

“We put 50 million into the Rays stadium over the years,” he said. “We are here to stay! We never want to forget that.”

Michael Harrison, senior managing director for Hines talked about taking this opportunity with the Rays to fulfill promises that some say were broken 30 to 40 years ago.

Hines is in partnership with the Rays on the redevelopment.

“We want to create a destination, a meeting place here in St. Pete,” he said.

Anddrikk Frazier, president and CEO of Best Source Consulting, said organizers also focused on education and the Woodson African American History Muesum and how it will be at the heart of the redevelopment.

“It’s one thing to talk about the stadium and plan, it’s another thing to have a team to do it,” Frazier said.

About the Gas Plant Reporting Project

The Gas Plant Reporting Project focuses on the redevelopment of a historically Black neighborhood of 500-plus homes called The Gas Plant area, razed in the 1980s for the Major League Baseball team now known as the Tampa Bay Rays. The space is being reimagined as a $1.3 billion mixed-used project that includes retails shops, residential units, civic outlets.

The project is comprised of news stories, a podcast series, and a documentary produced by student journalists from the Journeys in Journalism program at Melrose Elementary, John Hopkins Middle, and Lakewood High schools.

Support for the project is made possible by a 2023 Broadcasting Hope Media Grant from The Florida Humanities Council.