{"id":607966,"date":"2026-03-05T15:58:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/607966\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T15:58:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:58:59","slug":"st-petersburg-mayor-city-is-in-better-place-without-new-stadium-for-tampa-bay-rays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/607966\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Petersburg Mayor: City is in ‘Better Place’ Without New Stadium for Tampa Bay Rays"},"content":{"rendered":"

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St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch has no regrets that the Tampa Bay Rays withdrew their plans last year to build a stadium in his city. Indeed, he\u2019s quite happy about it.\n<\/p>\n

Last March, the team discontinued<\/a> its plans for a new $1.3 billion, 30,000-seat venue in St. Petersburg. The Tampa Bay Times<\/a> reports the mayor used a radio show appearance to highlight the \u201cstronger offers\u201d that followed the aborted stadium redevelopment plan.<\/p>\n

Welch cited new proposals to develop the Historic Gas Plant District that will provide more opportunities for local small and minority-owned businesses and more affordable and workforce housing.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are actually in a better place economically in terms of honoring those promises than we would have been with the Rays,\u201d Welch said, noting the city is scheduling groundbreaking on certain parcels on the site where the stadium was supposed to be built. The city received eight proposals to consider after the Rays pulled out of their redevelopment deal.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSo yes, I was disappointed that the previous Rays ownership did not honor their commitment and the contracts that they had signed,\u201d Welch continued. \u201cWe are still, all that said, in a better place, and I\u2019m still determined to honor those promises that I made as a candidate and that this city made to our community 40 years ago.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

In January, the Rays signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding <\/a>with Tampa\u2019s Hillsborough College to redevelop the college\u2019s 113-acre Dale Mabry campus to become a new baseball stadium and mixed-use development.\n<\/p>\n

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