The Tampa Chamber of Commerce is grabbing a larger role in the debate over a new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark, launching a study to determine possible private funding of a ballpark but steering clear of specific locations.
The avoidance of locations is being done with the hopes of including St. Petersburg and Pinellas County in the discussions. That’s a tough sell: St. Petersburg officials have been understandably protective of their relationship with the Rays and, while showing signs they’d be flexible about a new ballpark, they don’t want to let the Rays leave The Trop with bonds left to be paid off.
We’re not entirely sure the group is off to an auspicious start, though. For starters: they are already talking about abandoning a retractable roof and instead going with a fixed roof, dooming the Rays to 30 or 40 more years of indoor baseball.
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