When construction starts on a new Rays stadium, Hillsborough College will have to break up its operation to make room.
College officials had considered a temporary campus but now appear to have settled on spreading classes, the library, the bookstore, and administrative offices across several sites, according to the Tampa Bay Times, as reported by Bay News 9.
Classes will be split between the USF Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation in downtown Tampa and Tampa Bay Park, an office plaza at MLK Jr. Boulevard and Himes Avenue. The school will keep some trailers on its Dale Mabry campus for student services and other resources.
The move is scheduled for early next year. Construction is expected to wrap up by 2030, and the plan calls for new college facilities at Dale Mabry. The Rays have said they want to play in the new ballpark by the 2029 season.
For students, that means years of commuting between locations while a professional sports franchise gets its new home. College officials are scheduled to discuss the plans Wednesday at the school’s Brandon campus.
The disruption makes Thursday’s vote more pointed. Tampa’s city council will consider the stadium community benefits agreement, which spells out what the team is committing to deliver to the area beyond the ballpark itself.
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