by Steve Wilson
The Pinellas County Commission asked the Tampa Bay Rays this week if they’re in or out when it comes to a stadium deal.
The letter from board Chairwoman Kathleen Peters gives the Major League Baseball team a Sunday deadline to decide whether the club wants to proceed with a $1.3 billion stadium deal for St. Petersburg reached in July.
Peters said in the letter that it was the team, not the county, that killed the deal.
“Pinellas County has operated in good faith, working toward the stadium deal while balancing the needs of our community after back-to-back hurricanes,” Peters said in the letter. “If the Rays want out of this agreement, it is your right to terminate the contract.
“Clear communication about your intentions will be critical to the next steps in this partnership.”
The letter distributed by the team before the county commission meeting on Nov. 19 said the body’s failure to approve the bonds at its Oct. 29 meeting “ended the ability for a 2028 delivery of the ballpark” and that the Rays can’t absorb the additional costs due to the delay.
The Rays say they have ceased work on the development, which would’ve required about $600 million in taxpayer funds.
County officials didn’t buy that argument.
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Steve Wilson has been an award-winning writer and editor for nearly 20 years at newspapers in Georgia, Florida and Mississippi and is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and University of Alabama graduate. Wilson is a regional editor for The Center Square.
Photo “Tampa Bay Rays Uniform” by CityofStPete. CC BY-ND 2.0.
