This morning, the Rays held a press conference to confirm yesterday’s reports of their intent to stay in downtown St. Petersburg for decades to come.

An agreement has finally been reached between the Rays, The City of St. Petersburg, and Pinellas County to move forward with a new state-of-the-art ballpark and a transformational development on the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District site where the team’s current stadium sits. 

“This will be a transformative project for the Rays, St. Petersburg, and Pinellas County,” said Tampa Bay Rays Principal Owner Stu Sternberg. “We have proudly served as Tampa Bay’s Major League team for 25 years, and we are thrilled to be in position to do so for decades and generations to come.” 

Downtown St. Pete is home to several world-class museums. The Dali Museum, The James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art, The Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement, and the Imagine Museum are all incredible assets that could be in any major city in the world.

However, one of my favorite local collections of art isn’t in a museum. And it’s open 24 hours a day and completely free. I’m referring to the 650+ murals that are sprinkled throughout our beautiful city.

Over the past decade, artists from around the world have traveled to St. Pete to add color and character to our walls and many of those artists have come to the Sunshine City via the annual SHINE Mural Festival, which has contributed over 100 murals to our streets since its inception in 2015.