Tropicana Field Lost It's Roof

**VeggieDog** · 10-10-24, 08:58 AM

I wonder how long it will take to install a new roof. I guess they could play without one, or play whilst construction is ongoing.

**Mr KLC** · 10-10-24, 03:06 PM

Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, club employees have begun the process of assessing the damage. Topkin notes that, due to the presence of the roof, the stadium was built with no drainage system. That means that water damage is a concern for as long as the roof is damaged and the field exposed to the elements.

As noted by Topkin, the Rays could potentially move to another location temporarily, if necessary. He cites the example of the Blue Jays, who weren’t able to travel to Toronto at the heights of the pandemic due to travel restrictions in 2020 and 2021. During that time, the Jays played at their minor league facilities in Dunedin and later in Buffalo.

Whether the Rays will have to follow a similar path or can return to the Trop by Opening Day 2025 will naturally depend on the severity of the damage and when it can be repaired. The club will undoubtedly be providing further updates in the coming days and weeks.

**Mr KLC** · 10-10-24, 07:34 PM

The roof had never been replaced in the more than 34 years since it was installed, despite being “well past its intended service life,” according to David Campbell, a principal at Geiger Engineers, the group that installed the roof for the stadium’s opening in 1990. He said the Teflon fabric’s service life is approximately 25 years.

“They plan to be in a new building in the not-too-distant future. And they were hoping, I think, to make it,” Campbell said, noting that while it was a “significant storm” the fabric was designed to “safely resist” the damage it nonetheless withstood.

“But,” he added, “the fabric is very, very old now.”

According to the Rays, Tropicana Field’s roof was made of six acres of translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass. It was similar to the fiberglass fabric roof of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which once stood in Minneapolis and collapsed due to snow in 2010. Replacing the Metrodome roof took five months and cost $23 million. Campbell said that Tropicana Field has a similar size but fewer panels. That could make for a quicker installation, though that’s not guaranteed.

“It could be done, if the primary structure is serviceable,” Campbell said. “We could have the dome re-enclosed in five or six months.”

The Rays said in their statement that it will take weeks to assess the damage caused by the storm. And because of that, it remains too early to tell how long this rebuilding project will take.

**Mr KLC** · 10-10-24, 07:35 PM

Bring them to Nashville!!! We'll sell out every game!!!