A Dome with Three Names

Home plate entrance to the Florida Suncoast Dome, aka Tropicana Field, Sep-2009.

The view from the party deck beyond the left-field foul pole. One of the famous catwalks is in plain sight here.

The view from the upper deck behind the plate: artificial turf, real dirt in the infield.

Chronological Tour: Stop 136

• Location: Stadium Drive (4 Avenue S) at 16 Street, St. Petersburg, Fla. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1990 as Florida Suncoast Dome (1998 for baseball)
• Additional names: Thunderdome (1993); Tropicana Field (1997)
• Home team: Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-2007), Rays (2008-present), American League; Tampa Bay Lightning, National Hockey League (1993-96)
• Capacity: 45,200

Rating: 1 baseball

From 1993 to 1996, the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning utilized the facility, with a substantially smaller seating configuration. During those years, the building was known as the Thunderdome. The award of an American League expansion team to St. Petersburg eventually provided the impetus for a new arena across the bay in Tampa for the Lightning, known as the Ice Palace. Meanwhile, the dome was also used for NCAA tournament basketball games just prior to the Devil Rays’ opener, and it hosted the Division I Final Four in 1999.

Baseball made its formal debut at the Suncoast Dome in March 1998. A corporate sponsorship agreement changed the facility’s name once again. A citrus juice producer paid to have the building called “Tropicana Field”, with the “field” part of the name a futile attempt to distract game attendees from the inevitable realization that there is a roof over their heads. While the game is played on FieldTurf, one of the latest-generation sports carpets, the park features full infield dirt in a standard configuration rather than the sliding pads that were common in early stadiums with artificial turf.

The roof is translucent, making for a bright, almost tolerable experience during the day. When clouds come over, however, the place becomes noticeably darker, almost to the point of seeming dingy. The first time I attended, in August, the heat in the upper deck was unbearable as well, defeating the purpose of the domed stadium. On my return visit in 2009, the air conditioning seemed to be working better.

Among recent improvements to the ballpark, the collection of memorabilia once housed at the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame in Hernando was relocated to Tropicana Field, although it was removed prior to the 2021 season. Sadly, though, on my latest visit, even with certain cosmetic improvements, I still could not escape the fact that I was watching indoor baseball. It did not help that the catwalks ringing the dome blocked this upper-deck spectator’s view of parts of the scoreboards.

There was a proposal on the board to build a new major league facility on the site of Al Lang Field and move the Rays there. This move, which would only be several blocks, required numerous local approvals and was eventually tabled. In January 2016, the club and the St. Petersburg city council announced that the Rays have permission to seek relocation sites elsewhere in the region, perhaps across the bay in Hillsborough County. While a move is not imminent, the possibility arises that this park’s baseball days may be numbered. The club had been talking about a site in the Ybor City section of Tampa, across the bay, with a potential opening as early as 2022, but those plans are out the window and the club has committed to staying in the Suncoast Dome through 2027.

With attendance diminished in recent seasons, the club has opted to close off the entire upper level of seating for regular season games beginning with the 2019 season. This reduces the effective capacity to 25,025. The upper deck was reopened during the first two months of the 2021 season to comply with post-pandemic distancing requirements. The club does sell upper-deck seats during the playoffs.