There's already some infrastructure built/paved in Lot B, and two full-size fields are going to take up a ton of real estate. I'm curious to see where they plan to shoe-horn in the fields and associated seating, etc.
i was having a hard time wrapping my mind around how big it would be, so i copied the size of the actual ppl park "pitch" as the nerds say. it doesnt take up too much room, and could be in a variety of places. i also realize there would be some space around it for bleachers or whathaveyou, but it gives a good idea of scale
Spin it so it's parallel to the edges of lot b (15-30 degrees counterclockwise) and you should be able to fit two side by side with some room in between. If you dig up the built up island nearest the river you could stagger them (one with an end near Seaport Drive and the other with an end near the river). That should give you room for some indoor facilities and stands.
So to be clear, this "phase" would not include an indoor facility? just 2 outdoor fields, one potentially with bleacher seats... right?
Here's my rough mockup.... For the small stadium on the left I ripped Legion Stadium (wilmington hammerheads) which seats about 6K....
So here's my dumb question: the Flyers, for example, have a whole practice facility in Voorhees but, of course, play in Philadelphia. Why do the Union need their practice fields to be built on the PPL complex?
I think it comes down money. Doesn't everything? They already own the property they're proposing putting the new fields on, so no land acquisition costs come into play. They're looking to upgrade the existing stadium facilities as part of this, instead of building entirely new facilities elsewhere, so there's a major cost savings. On top of all that, there's transportation costs heading to/from Chester Park, bro. The pie-in-the-sky, PR-spin will be that players (especially the youngins) will be able to train in the shadows of PPL Park.
I guess they do not have to have there practice fields built next to PPL Park. With the redevolpment of Chester if new land needs to be aquired for this the land in Chester will come at a very low cost. The Stadium itself received funding from the govt to develop the land in Chester I do not think that has changed so their will most likley be a lot of cooperation with the city. IMHO The development of the Chester land has come by the way of a jail, a Casino and racetrack, and PPL park. A training facility would be a welcomed addition as the retail and Housing development has not come as of yet. Like PPL Park itself it has excellent access from 322 over the bridge from NJ, 95 North from delaware, and 476 from the main line. For the other pro teams in Philadelphia the Eagles have their training facility next to the Linc and the Sixers are building in the Navy yard so the Union having theirs right next to the stadium makes sense probably both logistically and cost wise IMHO
Wasn't there some deal that if they didn't start developing the land by a certain date they would have to give some huge amount of money back?
So assuming this actually gets done the next step would be to add some sort of indoor facility right? Can't be using Weights Under the Bleachers/YSC/The Healthplex forever right?
I know many Flyers have historically lived in Voorhees. I don't know if that's a chicken or the egg scenario with the training facility but I know as far back as Ron Hextall they've lived there. Went to his kid's birthday party at his house when we were in preschool together.