Because there's been some pessimism lately, I wondered what people really thought about the ambitious stadium construction timeline.
I'm really glad to see this poll. I'm afraid we haven't done any polls in a while, and I am forgetting how these work.
im optimistic but there are millions of things that can delay a construction project. i think it will be open early enough that a long season-opening road trip will not be necessary
Pessimist checking in.... first half of 2010, some home games at other stadium. But I really, really hope that all home games are in Chester.
True pessimist here: 2nd half of 2010 or later. I live in Philadelphia, PA. It takes forever for anything in this area to get done, be it in or outside the city.
High hopes over here, a couple weeks into the season following a nice road trip to show off the squad and rack up some points it'll be ready for action. ::Crosses Fingers/Toes::
Let's call it realism, this thing isn't going to be done in 12 months. So I am going with first half of the season, some games in another stadium. Good poll by the way.
This. I think we start with an away game at DC, then an away game in RBNY's brand new stadium, and an away game at a West Coast team.
Following up on my Virginia compatriot, it seems that you can't be certain about these stadium projects until the steel starts going up.
and even then, it's not a forgone conclusion that the project will be done on time ... see red bull arena.
Where would the squad most likely play as a temporary venue? I imagine that you'd have to go bigger than Chester Stadium to make up for the people who will have already purchased early-season tickets already.
locally, it would probably be either lincoln financial field (which doesn't conform to FIFA dimensional standards) or franklin field (at UPenn). but that's all speculation.
I was just wondering about this question, so I came to this forum looking for just such a thread. Glad it exists. It seems to me like time is running out to have this stadium ready in time for the start of 2010. Look at how far along Red Bull Arena is today. And it's projected to open at the start of the 2010 season. Now look at how far along the Chester Stadium is today. Is it really still projected to open at the start of the 2010 season? At this point, I kind of doubt it. Not trying to argue with you guys, but those are some incredibly bizarre time estimations. You guys don't think it'll be ready to start the season, but it'll be ready three weeks later?!?!? That's not a very logical assumption. If it's not ready for March 13, it probably won't be ready for April 3 either. MLS will want to announce the home openers right after MLS Cup this November. If they don't think the stadium will be ready to start the season, they'll probably make you guys start with a two month road trip. In 2006, Chicago didn't play their first home game until June 11. Groundbreaking at Toyota Park was 19 months before, in November 2004. By comparison, Salt Lake's stadium took about 17 months to build. Red Bull Arena is probably going to take around 21-23 months to build. By my reckoning, if they start on March 1 2009 and really, really rush this thing, they might be able to get it done by May 1 2010. June or July is probably more likely at this point though. For even more comparisons, with some stadiums "still-to-be-started", demolition and clearing of the Kansas City land just began in January 2009, and most KC fans don't expect the stadium to be ready until 2011. The slightly further behind Houston stadium project isn't expected to be ready until the start of the 2011 season.
first of all, RBA is set to be ready end of 2009. after the end of the season, but still, 2009. also, there were some huge issues with the land (i think something having to do with environmental cleanup or something) that wasn't accounted for. plus, it's going to be light years ahead of anything else in north america. perfection takes time. i think chester could be ready for the start of the 2010 season or soon thereafter.
http://www.earthcam.com/clients/redbullarena/ i hope that when we finally do get a webcam its something like this one for red bull park.
As far as I can gather with a quick google search, this is how long it takes to build an MLS stadium: Crew Stadium: 9 months CommunityAmerica Ballpark: 9 months BMO Field: 14 months Home Depot Center: 16 months from groundbreaking Toyota Park: 16 months, excluding site clearing Rio Tinto stadium: 17 months Pizza Hut Park: 18 months Dick's Park: 19 months Gillette Stadium: 26 months Qwest Field: 30 months Opening day 2010 will be about 14 months from Chester Stadium's December 2008 groundbreaking. Tight schedule, but doable.
There was no choice with Crew Stadium--no stadium meant no team as The Crew left OSU's stadium due to stadium renovations there (and there were no other venues in the area appropriate at the time, as Cooper Stadium (AAA Baseball) had held soccer at one time but was only about 12K and astroturf). They also did one unique thing to get the stadium ready on time--they put down the grass first and built the stadium around it. It was also a simpler design and still did not open until mid-May of 1999. It will be tight for you guys as you are building a nicer place.