What I meant, f'gal, is that for this thing to work, all parties need to band together: Ultimate, Silverdome, Colleges, the Bucks (who may still build their own 5k pro stadium), fan groups, elite youth groups (Vardar, Wolves-Hawks, etc.), .... Any divisions will end up deep-sixing the whole sh'bang. I was kind of hoping that everyone was tacitly open to a meeting-of-the-minds. If the Ultimate crew do see a Silverdome setup as a competitor (bringing in their own MLS Detroit Academy youth system, etc.) then I have some worries. Maybe it's time that I take off these rosey-glasses. Let this whole thing settle and check back at the Bucks college matches (March 24 http://www.buckssoccer.com/calendar/121908.html?d=03/24/2012 ; March 31 http://www.buckssoccer.com/calendar/121909.html?d=03/31/2012 ) I was just trying to analyze (but, hopefully not over-analyze) the newspaper articles.
That's sort of strange that the taxable value would increase during renovations, because that doesn't happen anywhere else in the US, unless it's phased development, and then it only increase when a phase completes and and assessed. But to do their "plan" it can only be phased by constructing the field level (HAHAHAHAHAHA) and then completing unfinished work below that level. Of course, that would make that work an order or two of magnitude more difficult to complete Holy ********ing Shit, an Ian McCracken sighting. I have to go tell all the liberals in Politics that you're still alive. That's been my complaint since the first rumblings of this plan. The stated construction cost far too low to accomplish what they're talking about doing, if it can even be done. That probably is cheap compared to the expense of deflating and inflating for every event they have in it. I expect the current plan to be abandoned eventually when the real costs become apparent. Of that scale, yes. And he's not a billionaire. Also, the big deal is since he's a private owner, he actually has to pay taxes. A municipal/state stadium authority doesn't, which is why most Owner choose not to own. The property tax increase from a relatively cheap property like this to 200+ million is staggering. Arrogance. Trust me, it doesn't have any field drainage and any elevated field would need that massive and costly infrastructure installed. Also, there would need to be similar drainage and weatherization improvements for the actual seating decks that were going to now be exposed to weather. Well, it's going to have to happen at some point, but right now, the main concern is getting a structure designed that capable of holding up the field and infrastructure, addressing the huge gap between the lowest seats of the upper deck and the side lines, accommodate the sight line changes from elevating the field, and making all that have enough space to accommodate the functions of the spaces below. Your concern doesn't mean that he isn't stupid or isn't being poorly advised on the decisions he makes. Good, he's going to need a significant amount of that in liquid assets to construct this plan. Substantially less, if he were to simply use a more cost effective means of design/construction. As a businesswoman, there comes a point when the scale/scope of "fixing things" far outstrips the value in simply starting new, adjacent to your existing dump of a building. So why should he get a "deal" that basically robs the city/county/school district of the revenue they need to operate to maintain the infrastructure & public services that serve his facility? These deals used to happen all the time and they were always very bad news for the cities that made them. The "sales tax" impact never makes up for the loss and schools don't typically get sales tax, only property taxes, so the people that would most use a facility, then to live somewhere else, thus lessening the amount of use they give such a facility. The majority of the jobs would be construction and very temporary, with most of the workers being imported to the area and/or leaving when the project is complete. The hundred or so permanent jobs would never justify the lost property tax revenue. Also most of the money paid to the builder and the designers will never even be spent in this area. He's asking the city to subsidize his future tax bill, increasing his profit. I think you're misconstruing the beliefs of people that he has the money to do the plan he is pimping. Insignificant costs in the grand scheme of things. You seem to get really angry when people who design buildings for a living and do cost estimating for said buildings question the vaporware being offered. Especially the structural feasibility and cost. So far, what's been offered is far from the "whole story".
In some ways Montreal has an ideal situation. The Stade Olympic is there for big events and Stade Saputo for regular league play. The two stadiums are right next to each other. If we had a 10K seater (with provisions for expansion to 20K in case of MLS ever coming to pass) next to the Silverdome, that would be great. Just musing on this, can't see it happening.
Chances are if we got a MLS team and there was a big soccer event (like one of the friendlies between two European teams, they would opt to move it to Ford Field. Maybe, instead of the multipurpose arena they can build a addendum to the soccer stadium instead (Think CNN and Philips Arena in Atlanta). There could be a concourse that connects the soccer stadium to the indoor arena/concert hall. This would require the Dome to be completely torn down, but there would still be tons of space to have two sister buildings connected to one another.
Maybe the Silverdome is more likely to get a casino than soccer, if the ballot proposal passes. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012204010485
I said that exact thing 6 MONTHS AGO in the other Silverdome thread. I'm simply stunned that Apostolopoulos STILL thinks renovating the Silverdome into this "Triple Arena" is his best option. From a financial standpoint, it CLEARLY isn't.
The petition to allow more casinos in Michigan has been thrown off the ballot. Free Press: http://www.freep.com/article/201208...peals-court-orders-casino-proposal-off-ballot Det News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...Initiative-new-casinos-knocked-off-Nov-ballot
