Design for Rays' waterfront stadium nothing new

Tropicana Field almost looked like this.

Outdoor seating. Tented roof. Fountains in center field.

It looks a lot like a new downtown waterfront stadium proposed by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Except the image at top, taken by St. Petersburg Times photographer Fraser Hale in early 1983, is of a model of the original Tropicana design.

A Times reporter unearthed the picture recently while researching the history of Tropicana Field.

In the distance is the old Bayfront Arena, to the right is Interstate 175.

A fabric roof stretches over a boomerang-shaped stadium, anchored to the upper deck on one end, and at the ground on the other.

The design never got past the planning stages, shelved after city leaders pressed for a multipurpose dome that could attract events other than baseball.

The Rays, who will reveal a preliminary financing plan for the $450-million waterfront ballpark at noon Thursday at Tropicana Field, say they had never seen this picture before.

"People were really impressed with it," recalled Cecil Engelbert, 81, former chairman of the Pinellas Sports Authority.

"It would have sure been attractive."

Times staff researcher Mary Mellstrom contributed to this report.