Expansion Group Still Working Under Radar

[EastSider]

Bernie Miklasz mentioned on his ESPN 1380 radio show today that he had a little discussion with Jeff Cooper, the Alton lawyer mentioned to be working with Michael Huyghue to get an expansion team here. The main reason he was talking with him is that Cooper is putting up $250,000 for this weekend's St. Louis Derby at Fairmount Park.

During their talk, the MLS bid came up. According to Bernie, Mr. Cooper says things are progressing and that he was optimistic that something may happen regarding a stadium, to be between 17,000-25,000 capacity. Locations considered include Metro-East, the city, and West County. Mr. Cooper says that there is a considerable portion covered by private funding, but that they are looking at what public help they might get concerning the different locations they are looking at.

If I heard correctly, Bernie may have a column on this tomorrow.

FWIW, his partner Randy Karraker stated rather bluntly that he does not think an MLS franchise will work in St. Louis. Bernie countered that he thought it would work, and hoped it would considering the modest attendance projections based on the stadium size.

Stay tuned!

[McGinty]

I'm glad Cooper clarified that much of a stadium would be privately financed.

I think this is also an indication that the city is their preferred location.

[nobody]

The guys in Illinois and there is space right across from the racetrack to build a stadium...could be interesting.

Although, even though I jump across the river a lot and have lived on both sides, getting people to go to Illinois will hamper attendance...although I don't think any more than putting it way out in the county. All them soccer moms out there are too busy driving the kids around, and you ain't packing a stadium with 12 year olds.

[SpecialK12890]

although I don't think any more than putting it way out in the county. All them soccer moms out there are too busy driving the kids around, and you ain't packing a stadium with 12 year olds.[/QUOTE]


I'm sorry but I think West County would be the perfect spot for a stadium. Considering how many club teams of all ages are out there and in St. Charles (where the majority of club games are played). It wouldent't be too far for everyone from Kwood/Webster, South County, the city, or even North County. If it goes across the river they'll lose all kinds of season ticket holders from West County, Lake St. Louis, and St. Charles.

[SoccerPrime]

Where, exactly or generally, is the locations in West County for the St Louis stadium?

[SoccerPrime]

Bernie Miklasz mentioned on his ESPN 1380 radio show today that he had a little discussion with Jeff Cooper, the Alton lawyer mentioned to be working with Michael Huyghue to get an expansion team here. The main reason he was talking with him is that Cooper is putting up $250,000 for this weekend's St. Louis Derby at Fairmount Park.

During their talk, the MLS bid came up. According to Bernie, Mr. Cooper says things are progressing and that he was optimistic that something may happen regarding a stadium, to be between 17,000-25,000 capacity. Locations considered include Metro-East, the city, and West County. Mr. Cooper says that there is a considerable portion covered by private funding, but that they are looking at what public help they might get concerning the different locations they are looking at.

If I heard correctly, Bernie may have a column on this tomorrow.

FWIW, his partner Randy Karraker stated rather bluntly that he does not think an MLS franchise will work in St. Louis. Bernie countered that he thought it would work, and hoped it would considering the modest attendance projections based on the stadium size.

Stay tuned!
Here is his column on the radio broadcast.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/berniemiklasz/story/4E483018EFA8FB88862571D40015F4B4?OpenDocument

[Angus Podgorney]

Where, exactly or generally, is the locations in West County for the St Louis stadium?

The place that would make the most sense (to those living in St. Louis County) would be Earth City / Riverport. It's got huge tracts of land, and lots of highway access. There are already several youth soccer fields in the area at Sportport. The Rams have their practice facility there. There was a proposal to build an open air stadium for the football Cardinals there back in the 80's.

For those not familiar with the St. Louis area, it's just off I-70 between I-270 and the Missouri River.

[Dave Brull]

For those not familiar with the St. Louis area, it's just off I-70 between I-270 and the Missouri River.

A visual.

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=earth+city,+mo&ie=UTF8&om=0&z=14&ll=38.753816,-90.477133&spn=0.020147,0.067291&t=h&iwloc=A

I was going to argue at first, but ultimately, this is a reasonable location. It kinda screws the south City people but the location is about 45 minutes fom anywhere (assuming non-rush hour) in the Metro area. Of course the construction on 40 might compliace things down the road, but then lets not put the cart before the horse.

[SoccerPrime]

From Jeff Cooper, local leader of St Louis MLS push:

We are currently working on getting a stadium. We are looking at options on both sides of the river, including downtown St. Louis, St. Charles, Collinsville and a few other places. The stadium is the key to getting a team, so hopefully we are successful in that pursuit.

Jeff

If any of you local St Louis MLS supporters want to contact Jeff, email me.

[Angus Podgorney]

A visual.

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=earth+city,+mo&ie=UTF8&om=0&z=14&ll=38.753816,-90.477133&spn=0.020147,0.067291&t=h&iwloc=A

I was going to argue at first, but ultimately, this is a reasonable location. It kinda screws the south City people but the location is about 45 minutes fom anywhere (assuming non-rush hour) in the Metro area. Of course the construction on 40 might compliace things down the road, but then lets not put the cart before the horse.

I agree this isn't the best location for south siders; even worse for those in the Metro East. I was answering SoccerPrime's question about where to put the stadium in West County. Even though I live in West County, and can get to Earth City fairly quickly when traffic permits, I would love to see a downtown stadium. Now that the owners of the Cardinals have their hands out asking for money for ballpark village, perhaps a soccer stadium should go there.:rolleyes:

[Dave Brull]

Whats going up where the old Busch stadium used to be. I know there is some overlap with the new stadium, but what about the remaining land?

[sirfallsalot_2000]

Whats going up where the old Busch stadium used to be. I know there is some overlap with the new stadium, but what about the remaining land?

Last I heard they are building a "baseball village" of shops and food joints for Cards fans before games. There was alot of overlap between Busch Stadiums that leaves no room for a Soccer facility. Besides, putting two stadiums together is so Kansas City.

I would agree with the other posts that the city is ideal, but as much as we want the metro east site to work I think west county would be better. I just think people are stubborn and won't think it is worthwhile to go to Illinois for a sport. Going to the city for a game would bring back all the Cardinals and Rams experiences we have had, and would make an event out of a game. West County would be easier for the bulk of the attending fans. But who cares about making it easy for soccer moms? Do we want St. Louis to see soccer as a kids sport still? Isn't that what we are trying to change? Do we really want a stadium full of moms?

[Angus Podgorney]

Whats going up where the old Busch stadium used to be. I know there is some overlap with the new stadium, but what about the remaining land?

That's where the aforementioned "Ballpark Village" is supposed to go. The current Cardinals onwership group got a sweet deal when they bought the team, stadium, and parking garages from Anheuser Busch for $150 million in 1995. They promptly sold the parking garages for $100 million. They waited a couple seasons, then started bleating about how Busch stadium was decrepit and they needed a new stadium. (Translation: Not enough luxury boxes) After threatening to move to various locations outside the city of St. Louis to extract as much public money as they possibly could, they announced a plan where they would build a new stadium in place overlapping the old one. The promise was that they would build a Ballpark Village on the remaining land that was to contain shops, apartments, movie theaters, etc and attract people to downtown St. Louis. The new park opened this spring still under contruction and finsished around Memorial day. About 2 weeks ago, the ownership group announced that, gee, we could build Ballpark Village with the revenue we have now, but if we were given $100 million of public money, it would be much grander. A spokesman from the mayor's office chided those that dared to cry foul over this further attempt to feed at the public trough as "small thinkers". The letters to the editor in the Post Dispatch are strongly against the cash request. I'm afraid the chances of the Ballpark Village, if it ever gets built, containing a soccer stadium are nil.

[Qdog]

...But who cares about making it easy for soccer moms? Do we want St. Louis to see soccer as a kids sport still? Isn't that what we are trying to change? Do we really want a stadium full of moms?

With all due respect, I would guess any future owners want the stadium full above all, soccer moms or not. Plus, soccer moms bring soccer kids who grow to be soccer fanatics, I would guess like you did.:)

PS: :cool: username.;)

[Sport Billy]

The place that would make the most sense (to those living in St. Louis County) would be Earth City / Riverport. It's got huge tracts of land, and lots of highway access. There are already several youth soccer fields in the area at Sportport. The Rams have their practice facility there. There was a proposal to build an open air stadium for the football Cardinals there back in the 80's.

For those not familiar with the St. Louis area, it's just off I-70 between I-270 and the Missouri River.

No way - ask anyone not living in St. Charles what they think about St. Charles and Earth City - They respond TRAFFIC.

Why cut yourself off from So City, So Co, and the Metro East?

The way St. Louis is set up, unless it is in the City, someone gets screwed.

South of Busch near Chouteau and Truman Parkway would be perfect.
Lots of land where the projects used to be.
They are building condos like mad in that area. It is now much safer than it used to be.

It is easier for those in So City and So Co to get to the Metro East than it is to get to EarthCity/St. Charles. That being said, the metro east is not the answer - no one from WestCo or St. Charles is going there.

I think you need to be in the City or along I-44 b/n the City and 270 (I just do not know if there is room anywhere along there.

[pemurill]

One place I think would be perfect would be the defunct shopping center along Manchester Rd just south of Dogtown, east of Maplewood, and north of the Hill. It is a large tract of land where a Sam's Club and some other empty store fronts are now. The reason I think this property would be best of all is access to all parts of the metro area. It is not downtown but would be equivalent to the old Arena as having access from 44 and 40(64). Also MetroLink has a nearby stop in Maplewood. Also I am sure that the City of Saint Louis would welcome a redevelopment plan for a glaring eyesore in what has otherwise been a uptick in City building and development. As with other city developments I believe the city gov't would more inclined to see this as being more desirable for financing as opposed to other downtown developments because of the location and the "need" for redevelopment

Add to this the access and influence that the neighborhoods of Dogtown, the Hill and Maplewood could have during gamedays. The many bars of Dogtown along with some of the eateries in the Hill and Maplewood would make it a fun day for any fan, soccer mom, hardcore fans, and others.

Now I just need to get a couple hundred million dollars and huge amounts of city political capital

[Dave Brull]

No way - ask anyone not living in St. Charles what they think about St. Charles and Earth City - They respond TRAFFIC.

Why cut yourself off from So City, So Co, and the Metro East?

The way St. Louis is set up, unless it is in the City, someone gets screwed.

South of Busch near Chouteau and Truman Parkway would be perfect.
Lots of land where the projects used to be.
They are building condos like mad in that area. It is now much safer than it used to be.

It is easier for those in So City and So Co to get to the Metro East than it is to get to EarthCity/St. Charles. That being said, the metro east is not the answer - no one from WestCo or St. Charles is going there.

I think you need to be in the City or along I-44 b/n the City and 270 (I just do not know if there is room anywhere along there.

Well maybe.

Remember the MLS schedule won't have most of the games at rush hour. Now I moved from the Lou (Does anyone in the Lou call it the Lou, or just Nelly-listening ex-pats?) 12 years back, but I don't recall Earth City on a Saturday akin to the Houston outerbelt. You'll be fighting Riverport traffic and? I do not think traffic is a factor here. I think the concern is location (or distance)

For fun I ran a few distance checks:

Belleville (Metro East) 37.8 miles 47 min
Arnold, MO (Jeffco) 29 mi 37 min
Ted Drewes on Grand 25.9 mi 36 min

I consider 45 minutes not bad (I take 2.225 to get to a 2006 Crew game for crying out loud. So this seems acceptable to me.

Now, I gotta bitch about your 44 idea as it one of the least easily accessible St. Louis Highways (barring 55) Something in the 40-270-70-170 square gives you better options. Of course that is some densely packed land with the exception of Earth City.

In essence, unless the ownership is ready to put up serious jack for land, they are going to the outer perimeter of the heavily-populated parts of the metro area. I can see them going Eastside for money sake.

[Nerazzuri]

Well maybe.

Remember the MLS schedule won't have most of the games at rush hour. Now I moved from the Lou (Does anyone in the Lou call it the Lou, or just Nelly-listening ex-pats?) 12 years back, but I don't recall Earth City on a Saturday akin to the Houston outerbelt. You'll be fighting Riverport traffic and? I do not think traffic is a factor here. I think the concern is location (or distance)

For fun I ran a few distance checks:

Belleville (Metro East) 37.8 miles 47 min
Arnold, MO (Jeffco) 29 mi 37 min
Ted Drewes on Grand 25.9 mi 36 min

I consider 45 minutes not bad (I take 2.225 to get to a 2006 Crew game for crying out loud. So this seems acceptable to me.

Now, I gotta bitch about your 44 idea as it one of the least easily accessible St. Louis Highways (barring 55) Something in the 40-270-70-170 square gives you better options. Of course that is some densely packed land with the exception of Earth City.

In essence, unless the ownership is ready to put up serious jack for land, they are going to the outer perimeter of the heavily-populated parts of the metro area. I can see them going Eastside for money sake.

As far as traffic, you'd be surprised. St Charles is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, and definitely the fastest growing in St Louis. There really is traffic on that part of highway 70 alot of the time. I sometimes have to drive out there on Saturdays to coach, and yes, there is a lot of traffic, even on non-concert nights.

As far as your distance checks, I agree, the times don't seem too bad, but I would say those are probably low estimates on mapquest's time. Secondly, St Louisans consider this to be a city where you can get anywhere in 20 minutes. And a lot of people think that if it takes more than 20 minutes, then you probably don't need to go there anyway. I really do think those times will hinder a lot of people.

As far as your idea to make it near highway 40, the problem there is that 40 is going to do under major reconstruction in the next few years, basically the entire stretch from 270 into downtown. There will be long stretches of time when it is reduced to one lane, or shut down in one direction, or shut down altogether. Realistically, knowing the way MODOT works (and the way the city and county work together (or rather, don't)), this is probably going to be a ten year project. Putting something closer to 44 (which is currently an underused highway) would not be a bad idea.

A long time ago, I had hoped that someone would buy the Arena land and build a SSS there, but that has clearly come and gone.

The Maplewood location makes a lot of sense--close to two highways, close to Metrolink, between the city and the county, and in between three neighborhoods that have somehting going on pre and post game. Here's the spot he's talking about:

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=6715+Manchester+Ave+St+Louis+MO&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=38.618949,-90.303626&spn=0.016128,0.042915&t=k&om=1&iwloc=A

[Sport Billy]

As far as traffic, you'd be surprised. St Charles is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, and definitely the fastest growing in St Louis. There really is traffic on that part of highway 70 alot of the time. I sometimes have to drive out there on Saturdays to coach, and yes, there is a lot of traffic, even on non-concert nights.

As far as your distance checks, I agree, the times don't seem too bad, but I would say those are probably low estimates on mapquest's time. Secondly, St Louisans consider this to be a city where you can get anywhere in 20 minutes. And a lot of people think that if it takes more than 20 minutes, then you probably don't need to go there anyway. I really do think those times will hinder a lot of people.

As far as your idea to make it near highway 40, the problem there is that 40 is going to do under major reconstruction in the next few years, basically the entire stretch from 270 into downtown. There will be long stretches of time when it is reduced to one lane, or shut down in one direction, or shut down altogether. Realistically, knowing the way MODOT works (and the way the city and county work together (or rather, don't)), this is probably going to be a ten year project. Putting something closer to 44 (which is currently an underused highway) would not be a bad idea.

A long time ago, I had hoped that someone would buy the Arena land and build a SSS there, but that has clearly come and gone.

The Maplewood location makes a lot of sense--close to two highways, close to Metrolink, between the city and the county, and in between three neighborhoods that have somehting going on pre and post game. Here's the spot he's talking about:

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=6715+Manchester+Ave+St+Louis+MO&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=38.618949,-90.303626&spn=0.016128,0.042915&t=k&om=1&iwloc=A

Well said -

BTW, Dave - I wasn't saying there necessarily was traffic in those areas (although there is quite often) - I was saying St. Louisians have a mental block to that area and immediatelly think "traffic".

[Angus Podgorney]

No way - ask anyone not living in St. Charles what they think about St. Charles and Earth City - They respond TRAFFIC.

Why cut yourself off from So City, So Co, and the Metro East?

The way St. Louis is set up, unless it is in the City, someone gets screwed.

South of Busch near Chouteau and Truman Parkway would be perfect.
Lots of land where the projects used to be.
They are building condos like mad in that area. It is now much safer than it used to be.

It is easier for those in So City and So Co to get to the Metro East than it is to get to EarthCity/St. Charles. That being said, the metro east is not the answer - no one from WestCo or St. Charles is going there.

I think you need to be in the City or along I-44 b/n the City and 270 (I just do not know if there is room anywhere along there.

I repeat, I was answering SoccerPrime's question, which was:

Where, exactly or generally, are the locations in West County for the St Louis stadium?