1/7/07: Collinsville may develop stadium for MLS expansion team

[pbsharp]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/othersports/story/A059144A79AAE0388625725C0012B132?OpenDocument

"Collinsville Mayor Stan Schaeffer acknowledged Saturday that Collinsville is the Metro East site that is under consideration as the potential home of a Major League Soccer franchise in the St. Louis area."

Paul.

[concord]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Horseshoe+Lake+Road+and+Interstate+255&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.505383,63.28125&ie=UTF8&om=1&oe=UTF-8&z=14&ll=38.687788,-90.029526&spn=0.035173,0.061798&t=h

So here is the location any idea where the 200 acres is located?

Open parcels to the SW, NE and SE.

[Atarian]

there must be an abandond farm there. or else they are going to have to by out some farmer.

[Marchetti]

Well, here we go.

I always thought the Collinsville plan was to put up a stadium alongside I-55. Maybe I just pulled that out of my ass, but whatever. While I still don't believe Collinsville, or much of the Metro East is a good plan for an MLS franchise in STL, I guess we have to take what we can get, right?

Plus, the potential ownership group MUST know something we don't. Cooper is a St. Louisan, and he knows the disparities that exist b/e the city and Metro East. Maybe a study was done that showed people WILL cross the river to watch soccer. Who knows.

Just bring a team already.

[jimmyodonnell]

55, 70, 64 and 255/270 all pass within a couple miles of this proposed Collinville site. You may not get lots of fans from way out west, but if you keep the eastside stadium close to 255 then you should still draw well from north and south county, add the growing areas in southern Illinois and now about 75% of the metro fan base is with 30 mins.

The land should be relatively cheap and there's plenty available to develop for the youth fields that nearly every stadium project now involves . . . also easy to develop adjoining commercial interests too such as fast foods, etc . . . doesn't this site make some sense?

[nobody]

There's lots of empty land over there. If they're talking about around the racetrack, it's in that middleground where there's getting to be too much crap around to farm it, but its still pretty wide open. They'd proabbly be able to get a really cheap deal.

[Sport Billy]

Anyone know when the next City meeting is?
Is this on the agenda?

[Angus Podgorney]

Collinsville, investor plan to hire consultant for advice on stadium
By Shane Graber
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Feb. 15 2007

COLLINSVILLE — A prominent area lawyer and this city plan to hire a consultant
to determine whether a 20,000-seat outdoor stadium is a good fit here,
officials said Wednesday.

Economics Research Associates, an international consulting firm that
specializes in the entertainment industry, will look at whether a stadium here
can pay for itself.

The city and East Alton attorney and investor Jeff Cooper expect to spend
$75,000 on the consultant. The two would split the bill.

The stadium would host concerts and other special events, and it would be home
to a professional soccer team. City officials think the most likely site is at
the southwest section of the intersection of Interstate 255 and Horseshoe Lake
Road.

Officials want a stadium plan that won't cost city taxpayers anything, said
Paul Mann, the city's community development director.

"We don't want to put the city's coffers at stake," Mann said. He said the city
hopes the stadium would pay for itself through concessions, parking and other
revenue. "We don't want anything from the general fund to go toward this."

Mann said consultants ideally would find new revenue streams officials haven't
yet considered.

Cooper is working with the city on bringing the stadium to town. Cooper, who
wasn't available for comment, recently tried to buy Real Salt Lake, a Major
League Soccer team in Salt Lake City, and move it here.

Economics Research Associates did consulting work for building a stadium there,
too. The firm said it would be a bad public investment and cost taxpayers too
much, according to news articles. But the Utah Legislature approved a $35
million financing package that kept the team in Salt Lake City.

Still, Cooper has vowed to bring professional soccer to the St. Louis area by
next year. Cooper thinks there is enough time to get a stadium built for that
season.

Major League Soccer has 13 teams and hopes to add three more during the next
several seasons.

A recent Major League Soccer study determined that the St. Louis area could
support a professional team.

If the city decides the stadium is feasible, it will put out requests for
proposals for other development ideas around the stadium, Mann said.

[nedigital]

"Still, Cooper has vowed to bring professional soccer to the St. Louis area by next year. Cooper thinks there is enough time to get a stadium built for that season."

How could this possibly happen? This is either bad reporting or ridiculous optimism...

[Sport Billy]

"Still, Cooper has vowed to bring professional soccer to the St. Louis area by next year. Cooper thinks there is enough time to get a stadium built for that season."

How could this possibly happen? This is either bad reporting or ridiculous optimism...

I have to agree. It took the Fire 18 months from the day they broke ground to build Toyota Park. We have 15 months to the start of the 2008 season.

We don't even have a stadium plan yet which means we are months away from any ground breaking.

Definitely not going to happen "next year".

[MCreek05]

Busch Stadium wasnt finished when the Cardinals started playing in it, it is definately possible if they want to get it done

[Sport Billy]

Busch Stadium wasnt finished when the Cardinals started playing in it, it is definately possible if they want to get it done

Busch Stadium Facts:
GroundBreaking: Jan 17, 2004
Field Installed: March 15, 2006 - 26 months later
First Game: April 10, 2006

WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A PLAN YET - or a team for that matter.
They are just now seeking someone to do a feasibility stuy.
They won't break ground for at least 6 months.
You cannot build a stadium in less than a year.

[Angus Podgorney]

Busch Stadium Facts:
GroundBreaking: Jan 17, 2004
Field Installed: March 15, 2006 - 26 months later
First Game: April 10, 2006

WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A PLAN YET - or a team for that matter.
They are just now seeking someone to do a feasibility stuy.
They won't break ground for at least 6 months.
You cannot build a stadium in less than a year.

And what happens when the results of the study indicate that building a stadium in Collinsville is a bad idea? It's one thing to have a team in place and threaten to sell it to another city's ownership group, but to have no team in a market that already has three major league sports teams, that threat will ring hollow. I can't see the Illinois legislature being cowed into this like Utah's did.

[McGinty]

And what happens when the results of the study indicate that building a stadium in Collinsville is a bad idea?

If Cooper's spending over $37,000, I don't think any consultant would return the absolute worst result possible.

[MCreek05]

Sport Billy,
there is no way building a soccer stadium will take nearly as long as Busch did, the soccer stadium would be no where near as big, and it will be easier building it in an open field than in the middle of the city and having to work around old Busch, which is why new Busch took 26 months, the Busch example was just to point out that the stadium who not have to be completely finished when the season started, i also don't see why they would have to wait six months to start building it, Cooper seems like the type of business man who might start building a stadium before getting a team to force the issue

[sirfallsalot_2000]

It took the Fire 18 months from the day they broke ground to build Toyota Park. We have 15 months to the start of the 2008 season.

Didn't the Fire start the first month or two on the road? And, the Rams had to play in another stadium before the Dome was ready (ahead of schedule).

Although I doubt we get the 2008 team, I don't think it's out of the question. It's pretty much a race between us and San Jose, and I don't see them getting any headlines.

[Angus Podgorney]

If Cooper's spending over $37,000, I don't think any consultant would return the absolute worst result possible.

Isn't the point in paying a consultant $37,500 now for the truth so that you don't spend 10's of millions to come to the same conlcusion, albeit much more painfully, later? I wouldn't expect the consultant to return the absolute worst possible result, but my point was that even if the news is fairly unpleasant, that would be sure to delay the start of the construction of a stadium. 2008 seems to be a pipe dream for having an MLS team in St. Louis.

[Sport Billy]

Sport Billy,
there is no way building a soccer stadium will take nearly as long as Busch did, the soccer stadium would be no where near as big, and it will be easier building it in an open field than in the middle of the city and having to work around old Busch, which is why new Busch took 26 months, the Busch example was just to point out that the stadium who not have to be completely finished when the season started, i also don't see why they would have to wait six months to start building it, Cooper seems like the type of business man who might start building a stadium before getting a team to force the issue

Wait a minute - YOU brought up Busch not me.
All I'm saying is you cannot
Do feasability study
Get government approval
Purchase land
and build a stadium in 15 months.

I'm not saying we won't get a team and that they couldn't play somewhere else.
I'm just saying a stadium will not be completed by the start (or even the middle) of the 2008 season.

Additionally, why would MLS do it in a rush for 2008 when they can do it right for 2009?

[McGinty]

Isn't the point in paying a consultant $37,500 now for the truth so that you don't spend 10's of millions to come to the same conlcusion, albeit much more painfully, later?

The truth is fine, but if the truth is negative, you better make sure it isn't public.

Judging other stadium experiences, municipalities and ownership groups make sure to have a study in such a public manner to show citizens that investing in a stadium will benefit the whole community (or at the very least show them that they aren't getting ripped off).

I would hope Cooper would not spend that much money if he weren't confident of a positive report that would be released to the public.

[TomEaton]

Does anyone else think it's odd that they're using the same consultants that concluded that Salt Lake's stadium was too big a risk for taxpayers? I mean, they got that deal done anyway, but it seems like if anything the Utah study worked against them. Since Cooper has spoken to Checketts about this stuff I wonder if they already figure they've got something going for them that RSL didn't have.