Rays commit to Tropicana Field repairs, but time is ticking for 2026 opener

News

Rays commit to Tropicana Field repairs, but time is ticking for 2026 opener

2025-01-07 05:10 Last Updated At：05:21

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — After some uncertainty, the Tampa Bay Rays now support a $55.7 million city plan to repair hurricane-shredded Tropicana Field in time for the 2026 season opener, while the team prepares to play this year at the New York Yankees' spring training home in nearby Tampa.

Matt Silverman, the Rays' co-president, said in an email to the St. Petersburg chief administrator that the team wants to “clear up” any questions about its support for the reconstruction. The city must pay for the work under its current contract with the Rays.

“While we had been open to considering a scenario in which the city bought out of its obligation to rebuild the ballpark, the Rays support and expect the city to rebuild Tropicana Field in accordance with the terms of the current use agreement,” Silverman wrote.

Hurricane Milton tore the Trop's fabric roof to pieces when it came ashore Oct. 9, causing water and other damage to interior parts of the now-exposed ballpark. Work has been ongoing to ensure no further damage is caused by weather but there had been questions about the full repair in part because it would eventually be torn down to make way for a new, $1.3 billion ballpark under current plans to keep the Rays in St. Petersburg another 30 years.

Time is of the essence, Silverman said in his Dec. 30 email to the city, which released it Monday. Even a partial 2026 season at Tropicana Field “would present massive logistical and revenue challenges for the team,” he wrote.

“It is therefore critical that the rebuild start in earnest as soon as possible" with a realistic construction schedule to be ready by opening day 2026, he added.

In a statement Monday, the city of St. Petersburg said it is “empathetic to the business interruption” to the Rays caused by the hurricane and welcomed the team's preference to return to the Trop.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Rays — through participation in a collaborative working group — and with City Council to return Major League baseball games to St. Petersburg,” the email statement said.

The city's architect presented the repair proposal initially on Dec. 12 but it has not yet been fully approved. Members of the city council have balked at the cost, especially with residents and businesses still recovering from Milton and Hurricane Helene before that.

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch has said that insurance and Federal Emergency Management Agency funds should cover the bulk of the cost. Silverman said Major League Baseball has told the team it will hire its own advisor to monitor the repair work and timeline.

The planned new downtown Rays ballpark is part of a $6.5 billion project that will include affordable housing, a Black history museum, retail and office space, restaurants and bars. The project is known as the Historic Gas Plant District, which was once a thriving Black community displaced by the construction of the ballpark and an interstate highway.

The Rays are preparing to play 2025 home games at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees' 11,000-seat spring training location in Tampa. Once Tropicana Field is repaired, Silverman acknowledged the Rays are obligated to play there three more seasons under the contract with St. Petersburg.

“We look forward to a grand reopening,” Silverman said.

A sunrise crowd gathers at Bondi Beach in solace and defiance after a massacre

SYDNEY (AP) — In the first full day of opening since a mass shooting driven by antisemitism killed 15 people at Australia's famed Bondi Beach on Sunday, thousands of people returned to the waterfront Friday to commemorate the losses and try to heal through a sense of community.

In a hastily organized event, people gathered shoulder to shoulder on Bondi’s pristine crescent of sand and then formed an enormous circle in the ocean in an expression of solidarity among Sydney’s residents and support for the Jewish community.

Police reopened parts of the beach Thursday, sparking a return to one of the country's beloved landmarks five days after two shooters attacked a Hanukkah celebration at a park near the shore, killing 15 people.

With questions emerging about whether Australian Jews were sufficiently protected from the threat of attack, and fears of a backlash against Muslims, armed police officers stood guard outside synagogues and mosques in Sydney on Friday.

Strangers embraced and wept during the morning commemoration. Some people stood in prayer near fluttering remains of crime scene tape and the shoes abandoned as people fled the horror of the shooting. Those who joined the circle in the ocean observed a minute’s silence for the dead, the wounded and those who rushed into danger to save them.

Life also began returning to normal on the sand and boardwalk, where people jogged, walked dogs and sipped coffee in the hum of everyday life at Bondi Beach.

In a country where mass shootings are rare and most people pride themselves on an ability to get along, Australians have been stricken and bewildered by the attack. Many looked to cope as they always have, by rising at dawn, donning swimsuits, grabbing surfboards and making their way to the beach.

Some of the beachgoers expressed a fervent wish that Australia’s relaxed and friendly way of life would continue undisturbed.

“I’ve grown up here my whole life,” 22-year-old swimmer Jack Hobbs said. “Today was a reminder of the amazing people where we live and what this community’s built on.”

In the days after the attack, Australians have celebrated those who helped in the aftermath or threw themselves into harm's way to save lives. In a land repeatedly tested by wildfires, floods and other natural disasters, resilience is forged through pulling together in tough times.

Many have embraced the stories of heroism that emerged after the shooting.

Ahmed al Ahmed, an Australian Muslim store owner who was born in Syria, tackled and disarmed one of the two gunmen before he was shot and wounded by the other.

“It was a nice day, everyone enjoying celebrating with their kids,” al Ahmed said from his hospital bed in a video posted to social media Friday. “They deserve to enjoy and it's their right.”

His message was “to stand together, all human beings,” he said.

Australia is “the best country in the world,” al Ahmed said. He raised a fist and, in a faint voice, pronounced a phrase engendering national pride among Australians everywhere: “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.”

Al Ahmed's remarks reflected a national mood of solidarity, which included a menorah beamed onto the sails of Sydney's famous opera house and the city's residents queueing for hours to donate blood. In a national record, nearly 35,000 donations were made and more than 100,000 appointments booked since Monday, according to Lifeblood, a branch of the Australian Red Cross.

Through their grief, the families of three Jewish people who died trying to stop the slaughter, Reuven Morrison and Boris and Sofia Gurman, also celebrated their courage.

But a fraught debate has grown in Australia about how to quell the hateful ideologies that apparently drove Sunday's shooting, while Jewish leaders spoke of their grief and rage that the horror had been able to unfold.

“There have been various leaders present here from various parts of the spectrum, trying to kind of groom political capital,” Andrew Stephen said, standing at the beach close to what has become a makeshift memorial of bouquets.

“But these community gatherings have been really good,” said Stephen, 53, who has lived at Bondi for more than 20 years. “People are wanting to connect.”

On Saturday, Bondi Beach's lifeguards will return six days after members of their service became first responders by running toward the gunfire barefoot and clutching first aid kits.

As the familiar sight of their red and yellow flags are planted in the sand to direct beachgoers where to swim, another marker of life at Australia's most famous beach will return.

Smith reported from Newcastle, Australia.