with a video about it

this has a nice pic of it from yahoo

from good ol wikipedia

The Tampa Bay Rays have been working with Populous (formerly HOK Sport) on a design for a possible future ballpark since at least the beginning of 2007. The main design point of the proposed stadium was the “Mast and Arch” retractable roof design. Instead of a solid material sliding roof panel, the “roof” would have been a fabric covering stored inside the shade to the seating. It was to be deployed by a pulley system at the top of the mast in 6–8 minutes.

The concourses in the proposed ballpark were similar to those at PNC Park, whereas they would have been enclosed, but fronted with glass on the field side, allowing fans waiting for concessions to view the game’s progress. As part of the new stadium, Bayshore Drive, which currently runs along the east side of Progress Energy Park, was to be closed during gameday activities, and become part of the ballpark.

The ballpark would have faced the opposite direction that Progress Energy Park does, so home runs could be hit into the water, similar to AT&T Park in San Francisco and PNC Park in Pittsburgh.2 This would have mitigated some issues involving heat, as a majority of the seats would be shaded from the sun during day games. The open access to Tampa Bay from right field would also have provided a cooling effect.

The original designs for the stadium called for up to 2.55 acres (10,300 m2) of Tampa Bay to be filled in. By the time the stadium proposal was first made public, the landfill was reduced to 1.05 acres (4,200 m2). In May 2008, the team revealed a new design calling for moving Bayshore Drive to a bridge structure, reducing the landfill requirement to 0.4 acres (1,600 m2).3

The plan website mentions that the simple act of moving from a dome to an open-air stadium could reduce the team’s carbon footprint by up to 70%.4 However, the ABC group analyzing stadium needs for the Rays have said that any new stadium must have a fully retractable roof.

i love the idea of the retractable roof being a tarp so to speak and how it looks like a sailboat. most interesting