The Tampa Bay Rays have just revealed the highly anticipated design for the new baseball stadium that will serve as the centerpiece of the Historic Gas Plant redevelopment. With a smaller footprint, a fixed roof, and concurrent mixed-use development, the Rays are taking advantage of unique opportunities to connect their stadium to the community outside the field. 

Here are five elements that will set the new stadium apart from its predecessor and other stadiums in the league: 

Watching Baseball From the Front Porch

The new Rays stadium is designed with the tallest portion of the facility (the part that can accommodate the peak of a baseball’s flight path) set back from the street, with tiers stepping down to a more human scale, akin to the welcoming front porch of a comfortable home. Project designer Zach Allee of Populous, who has worked with the Rays for 17 years, said, ”The lower portion of the ballpark touches the street and engages the Historic Gas Plant District. This allows us to make the inside of the ballpark extremely intimate for fan experience and seating.” 

The architecture is meant to pay homage to the front porches of vernacular syle homes that were prevalent in the Historic Gas Plant neighborhood. 

It’s a year-round affair

Most Major League baseball stadiums are used only 81 days a year. The new Rays stadium is designed to be active 365 days a year, with an entertainment and retail village that are open even when it isn’t game day. Allee continued the house metaphor saying, “The civic plaza is designed to be a living room. It can host multiple events for non-gameday events, graduations, conventions and serves as the ballpark’s main entry.” 

Allee said, “The design is able to engage the community and be a reflection of St. Petersburg, the culture and the place. It has to be a place where stories are told about the Historic Gas Plant. It’s very rare that you have a ballpark and a mixed use development designed at the same time. That affords all kinds of opportunities for synergies between the ballpark and the development.” 

Indoor climate with an outdoor feel 

The new stadium will be the only exclusively indoor baseball stadium in the major leagues, but large windows in the outfield, some of which can open on nice days, will allow fans to see out onto the new Second Ave South. The clearstory roof will allow for sunlight, and the plaza connecting the stadium with the streets, bars and restaurants will give the stadium an outdoor feel. 

Intimate experience with neighborhoods of seats

Maxing out at about 30,000 seats allows the designers to eliminate the seats farthest from the field (which coincidentally happen to be the most expensive to build) and bring the remaining seats closer to the action. There will be fewer luxury suites (a trend nationally), with a bigger variety of premium experiences. Allee said there’s a real advantage to being the only fixed roof ballpark in Major League Baseball because they don’t have to take rain, lightning, and heat into account when designing seating options like other MLB teams do. Instead, the can look to basketball and hockey arenas to create “neighborhoods of seats” with unique features. 

Team President Matt Silverman said, “We have designed the most intimate ballpark in baseball. It will have the smallest capacity and the seats will be as close to the field as any in baseball. The benefit of only building approximately 30,000 seats is you get to make sure those seats are the best located and closest to the field to create that intimacy.” 

Open concourses connect the fans to the game

If you’ve ever visited old parks like Fenway, the concourses aren’t cut off from the game or the neighborhood. You can order a hotdog without missing the action. The Ray’s new stadium will be designed so that when walking in the concourses, fans can see the field and also see out to the streets around the stadium. They also make it easy to get around to different parts of the stadium.

Silverman noted that there will also be standing room and extra capacity admissions for fans who are more interested in the social aspects of the game, walking around, taking in the sights and the sounds, meeting up with friends and finding different perches throughout the ballpark to watch the game.

The major takeaways from the Rays new stadium? More intimate seating, an indoor / outdoor experience, and lots to do even when you aren’t watching baseball!