Tampa Bay Rays replace Tropicana Field roof after 2024 hurricane

The Tampa Bay Rays professional baseball franchise is debuting a restored roof on its Deerfield Beach ballpark in time for the 2026 MLB season home opener in Florida.

Over 100,000 pounds of fibreglass membrane have replaced the roof of Tropicana Field, which was damaged by Hurricane Milton in October 2024. The roof was left in tatters in the wake of the powerful storm.

While the Rays relocated to George M Steinbrenner Field – the New York Yankees' spring training facility in Tampa – for the 2025 MLB season, an international team of consultants set to work repairing the damage and outfitting the stadium with a new roof.

A joint venture between AECOM Hunt and Hennessy Construction Services interfaced with the City of St Petersburg, Florida and led the design-build of the roof replacement.

The new fibreglass membrane panels were designed and produced by German manufacturer Serge Ferrari Group, with Enclose Tensile Structures assembling and installing the panels and Geiger Engineers overseeing the architectural engineering and structural integration of the roof system.

The roof features 24 panels – each weighing approximately 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilogrammes) – of Serge Ferrari Group's Tenseo Xtrem GF 7000, a high-performance fibreglass composite membrane produced from specialised fibreglass yarns and PTFE coating membrane rolls.

"The scale of the roof and the tight timeline meant only a handful of suppliers could take on a project like this, and we were one of the few with the production capacity to deliver," said Serge Ferrari Group North American senior specification manager David Peragallo.

"The stadium retrofit of this scale was especially challenging."

The new membrane had to integrate seamlessly into an existing structure while still meeting stringent wind and safety requirements.

The roof was engineered for long-term durability with an expected lifespan of 20 years and resilience against severe weather events.

"When it matters most, the stadium roof is the first line of defence, and we're honoured to help ensure it's more than up to the challenge," said Pergola.

In addition to the roof replacement, the stadium underwent several interior repairs and improvements, including the installation of new artificial turf, a new sound system and video board upgrades, the replacement of backstop netting and outfield wall padding and repairs to interior finishes, seating, lighting, locker rooms and clubhouse spaces.

The completed project comes on the heels of an announcement about a new stadium for the Rays.

Set inland from the current location to reduce the chance of future storm damage, the proposed 31,000-seat stadium and its corresponding mixed-use district are slated to be designed by Gensler and Populous and would open in 2029.

Other recent MLB projects include the ongoing construction of a new "armadillo-shaped" stadium designed by BIG for the Athletics who are relocating to Las Vegas and a baseball academy designed by Jones Haydu and JMF Arquitectos in the Dominican Republic for the Miami Marlins.

The photography is courtesy of Kailey Tracy and Serge Ferrari Group.

Project credits:

Client and project manager: City of St. Petersburg
Lead contractor and design-build partner: AECOM Hunt / Hennessy Construction Services (Joint Venture)
Roof system design: Serge Ferrari Group
Roof system manufacturing and installation: Enclose Tensile Structures (ETS)
Architectural engineering lead: Geiger Engineers
Coordination: Tampa Bay Rays, Major League Baseball
Environmental oversight: Greenfield Environmental, Inc.
Project funding: City risk management, insurance partners, FEMA coordination teams

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