Dynamo Stadium News X: The Hangover

Did you see that letter? Now THAT'S how you oppose a stadium. Good points that can further a conversation instead of turning it into the classic "running in shorts, not a sport" argument. But still, I like how the reaction to her is pretty much, "So? This isn't any of your business anyway."

 

I hated that part of her letter. Different portions of the dissenting crowd are now claiming that a soccer stadium is wrong because no one will ever follow soccer in the US AND because soccer will become wildly popular. Which one is it because it can't be both. It's infuriating. It just goes to show that people whether they are politicians, special interest groups, or whatever will say anything in order to serve their own means.

In any case, you have to love Radack's response which was essentially "STFU, you can't do anything about this." I'd be interested to know what the Dynamo think of this development. Do they take this as a sign that their downtown dreams are circling the drain? If indeed the only holdup to a downtown deal was a $10 million contribution from the county that doesn't look likely to come as this new opportunity has come to light, will the Dynamo say "Screw it, will provide the extra $10 million"? In other words, is the value of that $10 million worth less then the difference in value between a downtown stadium and a stadium somewhere else (like 59/610)?

It's still early days and who knows what kind of opposition will line up against the 59/610 proposal and how much importance/power it will have but I could see this playing out one of two ways. 1) The Dynamo assess the new plan and decide if it meets their goals and requirements for a new Dynamo stadium. If it does, they make that their new priority. 2) If it doesn't, they chip in the shortfall for the downtown stadium. Of course, all of that operates under the assumption that the county have played their hand and they have said they aren't going to play ball for a downtown stadium...which might not be a good assumption to make but it at least seems plausible given recent events.

 

I believe the $10M from the county was more about White saying he wouldn't play unless the county did too, rather than the money. Spreading the political responsibility around, as it were. So I don't think the deal would go forward even if the Dynamo decided they wanted to pay the extra 10-mil.

 

Again, it's all about El Franco Lee.

Great stuff.

Correct.

 

My two cents...I wasn't too worried about a stadium deal happening eventually but today's news changed my mind. I think we're gonna be at the Rob for a while folks! Or watching the Orange on TV when they're playing in Vancouver.

With a viable private option on the table, there's no way any local politician can justify spending $10 million bucks! Whether it's Houston, or a suburban town, why would anyone approve any public funding if it could be accomplished without public funding?

But 59 & 610 is a godawful site for any number of reasons including traffic and parking. Mayor Siegel's letter promises to be the first volley in a lenghty NIMBY battle between Bellaire and a stadium proposal. Perhaps Radack is technically correct that it's not any of Siegel's business. But let's never underestimate the power of a group of wealthy white folks. Bellaire can, and will, scuttle this site. And that means scuttling a Dynamo Stadium entirely IMO.

 

You're just now worried a stadium deal won't get done? As long as El Franco Lee and Sylvia Garcia are in office they would ignore and fight the stadium efforts. Now, they have to act, either finally stop playing games and pony up the money or don't, because now with this second option, a private option that they will have very little say in, they have to do something.

This 2nd option is a good thing. The first option wasn't getting done with or without this second option.

Nobody on these boards fool themselves with orange-coloured glasses. We were nowhere near getting a stadium even before this latest proposal. 60-90 days BS.

 

What do BSers think about some of the mayor's points.... the traffic in the area, the distance from the north and east sides of town, and the parking? Those were the things I thought of immediately when I heard about it, but I really don't know. It doesn't seem that much farther than downtown to me. I don't go thru there much (except to get to Dynamo games) and the traffic seems much better than it was back in the 80s when cars would back up for miles on 59 trying to get to 610. But I don't get off there, I wonder what it would be like going to a game. Obviously, if they could fast track a light rail there, it would be fantastic. I sort of like the area, and I like the idea of building some sort of retail/entertainment development there, much like a suburban spot but not far from downtown.

Another question I have is about all the flyovers around there... aren't there an awful lot of traffic ramps in the air on almost every side of the plot? What is the view like there? I know there are some nice tall buildings, but can you see them thru all the freeways? And what about safety, how far are they from the stadium? I still remember the ammonia truck that crashed there years ago and caused lots of deaths and more suffering. I suppose, though, there could be a similar problem at the downtown site, though I do agree with the Bellaire mayor when she said it is one of the busiest intersections in the country, I remember they used to say that back in the 80s.

 

On another note, El Franco's "no comment" in the paper today is infuriating. At least Silvia said some thing. Somebody should put El Franco's hands to the fire (is that what they say? something like that) and make him say something about a stadium, somewhere. He is an elected official, for god's sake, he should have some opinion on it somehow.

 

Putting the traffic issue aside as anyone from that part of H-Town will tell you that a sports stadium there would be a nightmare but as well just the general idea of any business that wants to attract thousands of repreat customers to any destination just south of Hwy 59 and yet north of Bellaire needs to have their head checked.
Gulfton Ghetto didn't earn its rep for nothing.

 

Bloody hell!!!!

Are we related?

 

Well no wonder Steve Radack is interested in pushing the Galleria location. It appears to sit quite nicely within his precinct.

 

Plus his favored sport is dwarf tossing

 

El is indeed an elected official - but he's an omnipotent one. His place is secure and if he doesn't want to comment he won't.

 

This is sort of interesting:


http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/01/28/west_university_examiner/news/wu_stadium_reax.txt

The whole thing did seem out of the blue that the first time word leaked was at Commissioner's Court meeting.

I did love the Bellaire mayor being concerned about eastside and northside Dynamo fans - Ha!

You get the sense that no matter where they build this thing, someone will try to kill it, even if it is on a Superfund site.

 

so was mine, until NY outlawed tossing midgets.

hey-I see SJ have broke ground on a training facility. Unbelievable.. Here we are still at UofH. Maybe we should shift our focus to that.

 

these 2 sentences have a lot truth in them:

#1 while there are still traditional, predominatly hispanic neighborhoods (2nd ward, northside) the whole of Harris County is now 51% percent Hispanic. you can stand in any neighborhood, throw a rock and hit one of those Hispanics that watches football. i live in the suburbs and play pickup games with my 2 native Colombian neighbors....not to mention my cousin, my friend from D.F. who's a Club America 'loco', my Tigres' friends and all live within 5 minutes time. i don't buy the theory that if you don't build it downtown Hispanics won't come to the games because its too far. put the damn thing anywhere and there is a large cluster of Hispanics in the area. (even in Sugarland)

#2 we have to convince these knucleheads that this sport is not just for illegals like they like to argue. this has nothing to do with immigration policy. it has to do with a sport that many different people of different socioeconomic, ethnic groups and races watch and play.

 

^^^^^
Allejuah, preacher man!

 

I grew up in Bellaire and could find 4 different (primarily hispanic) pickup games within a 5 minute drive of my house on any weekend day. The argument that it isn't near latinos just doesn't hold any water, even if you don't obliterate the premise altogether as rey has.

 

Technically we've broken ground on our training facility too...such as it is.

http://web.mlsnet.com/gallery/photogallery.jsp?pathid=200912017733342&vkey=t200

Good luck with that. If you figure out how you convert that kind of ignorance, let me know. You could also solve a lot of other social ills while you are at it.

 

the undertones of the statement were, "Don't bring the hispanics to our area"

 

I think it's too late . . . by a few hundred years.

 

That was you?? Summavich!!! jaja

Hopefully they allow street vendors to sell all around the stadium. That was a highlight of Baltimore for me. Trying out new foods and taking in the aromas.

 

From "tigereye" on HAIF:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/...talk/page__pid__355666__st__1300&#entry355666

 

This new site does actually border the City of Bellaire. I didn't realize it went that far north.

 

So we go from a two district problem to another... beautiful