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Tropicana Field to get a marquee along I-275

The city and the Devil Rays hope the electronic sign gets the attention of motorists.

By MELANIE AVE
Published February 25, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - It will soon rise above Interstate 275, guiding motorists and visitors to Tropicana Field and everything that happens inside the domed stadium downtown.

For the first time since it opened 15 years ago, the stadium will have its very own marquee - something baseball fans have long wanted.

The city and the Devil Rays are teaming up to build an electronic billboard that will stand on the western parking lot facing the interstate. It will be 26 feet high and 60 feet wide, about the size of six parking spaces. It's scheduled to go up by late April, pending city approval.

The marquee will display upcoming games and times and will also advertise other events at the dome as well as public service announcements such as missing children alerts.

"It's going to be a nice thing," said Mayor Rick Baker. "If there's something going on at the Trop, people will be driving down the Interstate and they'll be able to see it. It's just one more thing to help people know what's going on in the city and let them get involved and be a part of it."

Fans attending the team's spring training workouts at the Ray Naimoli Complex Thursday were thrilled.

They said the sign will give the Rays greater visibility and show the city's pride in the team, which skated past a last place finish last year for the first time in club history.

"Maybe if they did a little more advertising," said Palm Harbor's Donna Babel, "maybe they'd have better luck."

Diehard fan Susan Herring, 53, said she hopes it will drive up the team's lagging attendance and create a greater fan base.

"Some people who are driving by and don't have anything to do, they will be able to pop in and see a game," she said. "I'm sure it'll help."

Thursday, the City Council will change its sign ordinance to allow large signs on sites of 20 acres or more that have at least 20,000 seats. A conceptual drawing will be presented to council members next week, said Kevin Dunn, St. Petersburg's managing director of development.

Dave Auker, senior vice president for business affairs for the Devil Rays, said the billboard as currently planned will feature a large baseball at the top saying "Rays" and the words "Welcome to St. Petersburg" at the bottom beneath a changing message area.

"It's going to be a pretty sophisticated electronic billboard," Dunn said.

Last year, council members agreed to pay half the cost of the marquee up to $500,000 out of the fund used to maintain the stadium. The money will also help pay for a large sign above left field inside the dome.

Both signs combined will cost over $1-million, Auker said.

The county took ownership of the stadium in 2002, one year after a Florida Supreme Court decision said that city-owned sports arenas used by for-profit teams must pay property tax. The action saved city residents $1.4-million in property taxes on the dome.

City officials see the sign as a way to better market downtown and St. Petersburg's connection to the Rays.

Council chairman Richard Kriseman said because the city benefits from increased attendance at the dome since it receives a portion of each ticket sold, he supports using taxpayer dollars for the marquee.

"The better informed our citizens are the better it is," he said. "It improves the facility to have it."

Council member John Bryan sees the sign as a marketing tool. "The idea is you have to promote a product," he said.

Team and city officials said a marquee had always been planned for the stadium, initially called the Florida Suncoast Dome. But those plans kept falling by the wayside.

"There were other priorities needed," he said. "It got value engineered out. But it's something we've always wanted."

As they watched the Rays practice Thursday, Burt Helgeson, 73, and B.D. Turner, 72, said they are happy the team is beefing up its advertising.

"We don't feel like the Devil Rays do enough to PR themselves," said Turner, a retired attorney. "With the sign and all that traffic on 275, I don't see how it will hurt."

Melanie Ave can be reached at 727 892-2273 or melanie@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 25, 2005, 00:51:16]