Rays look to finalize deal on new ballpark with July 30 County Commission vote

The Tampa Bay Rays have reached the bottom of the ninth inning in its quest to secure a new ballpark.

The team must get final approval from the Pinellas County Commission before they can break ground on the new park. That final approval may come on July 30 when the team asks for more than $300 million in tax money for the project.

The commission vote comes after the City of St. Petersburg gave its part of the stadium deal a green light by a 5-3 vote of the city council.

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If the Pinellas Commission approves the deal, it will be the end of a lengthy journey for the Rays that has included plans for a stadium in Tampa, Ybor City, or even splitting the team's home games with Montreal.

Once approved, the multi-billion dollar stadium plan will also include a complete redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District. The deal is also expected to keep the Rays in St. Petersburg for the next three decades.

The new stadium will replace the aging Tropicana Field. The stadium, which also had the names Florida Suncoast Dome and the ThunderDome, has been near the bottom of the list in every stadium ranking released in the last several years.

Just for comparison, Tropicana Field cost approximately $130 million in 1986 to build, which would be approximately $372 million in today's dollars. The new stadium deal will have a projected total cost of approximately $1.3 billion, but that also includes the redevelopment of the Gas Plant District.

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