Revolution Stadium Groundbreaking "12-24 months" Part XVI

Please don't shoot the messenger.

FWIW, I've heard the Revs have been poking around the Wellington Station area for years.

Gateway Center is directly across the Orange Line from the new Encore Boston Harbor Casino.

Coincedentally...

Casino is phase one of 'the entertainment district of the Northeast'

EVERETT — City leaders and Wynn Resorts executives said this weekend’s opening of the glittering $2.6 billion, 671-room Encore Boston Harbor casino resort is probably just the beginning of something even bigger: a massive hotel and entertainment complex on a once grim and heavily polluted stretch of the Mystic River.

“Our idea,” said Matt Maddox, Wynn’s chief executive, at a news conference Friday, “is to continue to redevelop this area so that it’s known as the entertainment district in the Northeast.”

Although he did not provide details on when the company might begin to expand, after Encore’s opening, Maddox said the company will learn what it’s missing.

“Is it hotels? Is it arenas? What is it that needs to go here?”

Maddox said Wynn Resorts has purchased 11 acres of land near the casino, giving the company space to realize broader ambitions.​

Wellington Station is within walking distance. Assembly Row is right across the river. In addition, I've heard rumblings that the Celtics are less than pleased with their current arrangement with TD Garden, and might also be eyeing some sort arrangement with Encore Boston in this same area.

Obviously, this is still in the rumor stage, but it might actually have legs in terms of being something that's possibly workable.

 

Hmmm, interesting idea, and if it is part of a larger massive-scale development project I can see it possibly happening. But if the Celtics are looking at building their own arena, I can see that happening instead of a soccer stadium. More possibility for non-sports use than an open-air grass stadium. And it would also require maybe half as much land.

 

A basketball arena and soccer stadium would use common parking - or, to get more crazy, a Revs stadium with a retractable roof. Target capacity would be similar for both teams, schedules don't have too much overlap, if the bull gang can put a hoops floor over ice, they could probably do it over a grass pitch.

But, it's pretty crazy - while the Celtics might not like their arrangement - the Bruins' owners basically have all the leverage - I can't see them leaving the CityOfBoston.

I was over in that area not too long ago - at an outing at the trampoline place in the map - there is some space in the area, which is primarily occupied by warehouse type places that could probably relocate fairly easily. On the one side, there's the main drag up Everett, which would be totally overwhelmed by any increase in traffic, but the proximity to the Orange line is promising. It took me 10 minutes to ride my bike to/from Wellington, which would probably be cut in half with a new bike/pedestrian bridge and a more direct route.

 

They could try something like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saitama_Super_Arena

 

I can't see a Basketball and Soccer setup in the same place. I suppose you could lay the basketball court so that the sideline seats would be behind the soccer goal, and then add a large, temporary stand on the other side. Each basket would be at the sidelines of the soccer field.

But if the whole place hods 20-25,000 for soccer, you'd be hard pressed to get 15,000 in for basketball and have the seats be any good. I've seen pictures taken from other domes for basketball and if you're in the top level, you'd be better off watching on TV.

Before they built ScotiaBank arena (or whatever it is called now) in Ottawa, they had a smaller hockey arena (~8000) attached to the CFL stadium, but they were more back-to-back. The lug-jury suites for hockey also abutted the CFL field on the other side, but the playing areas were totally separate.

 

How about a setup like they've got at BC where Conte Forum and Alumni Stadium are attached to each other and share some common spaces?

 

The Celtics have been sharing a building with the Bruins for, what, 60-70 years? And it has always been a thorn in their side. They won't leave that just to share with someone else.

 

The Celtics position has been worse than just 'sharing', they've been a tenant, sharing occupancy with the owner.

IF this every happened, it would probably be a co-ownership, or individual ownership of the major buildings with co-ownership of some common components (dual-facing suites, parking, maybe related-development, etc.).

 

Basketball to soccer/football stadium conversions won't be great for basketball watching, but from an urban land use perspective, might be the best possible outcome.

Here is Syracuse's Dome arena layout for basketball - it can hold 35,000 for basketball but I've heard the views etc aren't great. It can also hold 50,000 for football.

 

That was pretty much the layout I was talking about. In this case, we wouldn't have the yellow top deck but maybe 2 smaller tiers with a row of luxury suites in between. The BB seats wouldn't be too bad in that setup,

Still, the grass field would take a beating, unless they did something like Schalke where they have the field on wheels and rolling it out when not in use. But that would be hugely expensive and they probably wouldn't have enough land for that anyway.

 

Would be nice to hear a tweet like this for #NERevs.

Another bit of evidence that, YES, new stadiums CAN still be built in the city proper. Boston isn't that unique versus other major cities, so fair to expect similar is achievable in or near Boston urban center. https://t.co/LCScpoPB5m

— A Casual Fan (@A_Casual_Fan) February 7, 2020

MLS news bomb from @DavidWaldstein: NYCFC is on the verge of a stadium deal. In the Bronx. https://t.co/CLvxJSKiLu

— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) February 7, 2020

 

Nothing really new here, but...

New England Revolution will seek to try to improve on Atlanta, LAFC experience in new stadium

 

Looks like we can kiss another location goodbye.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06...set-buy-widett-circle-potential-mega-project/

 

Yeah, $175M deal.

I think this highlights the Revs fundamental problem in this stadium site search: because of the high land values, they have to search for 'undiscovered' or 'under-discovered' locations, but when they do, they expose the opportunity and bigger-pocketed developers are attracted pushing the cost out of range of what is feasible.

I think almost every site they've been linked with has seen this happen: Assembly Square, Widett Circle, UMass/Boston, ... Others may be as well: Brickbottom (though looks like that's still not up for development), Wonderland, Suffolk Downs, Allston Yards.

 

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1273948534870609920

Not sure if I should interpret this as a poke against the Revs, or as a he knows something and he is being cryptic tweet. Pretty sure it's the former.

 

Suffolk/Wonderland probably weren't available as long as the dream of a casino was there, but I've always thought that during the last economic collapse, the Krafts could have purchased land on the cheap.

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/new-eng...wn-to-arenagilbou-and-owners-willing-to-spend

One source told ESPN that progress is being made on a new downtown home, but that "progress" was difficult to define.

"Progress in Nashville, there's shovels in the ground. Progress in Cincinnati, the lights are being put up," the source said. "Progress in Boston is defined in different ways because of how difficult it is to get land downtown. However, they've got progress in the sense that you say to yourself, 'This thing's actually got a legitimate shot.'"

 

In other words, as Rodgers and Hammerstein would put it, "Part XVI, going on seventeen..."

 

Funny when I initially saw this thread I thought it said 'Groundhog Day'....all too appropriate once I re-read the title.

 

"Downtown."

 

The best part of Tara Sullivan's story?

"We want to build the stadium," Jonathan Kraft said. "We don't like failing and we clearly failed at doing that. The training center made a statement."

Credit where credit is due. That's as straightforward an acknowledgement and acceptance of their inability to get a soccer-specific stadium built as Bob Kraft, Jonathan Kraft, or team president Brian Bilello has ever delivered.

No "we've made progress on a number of sites"... "we're committed to doing it"... "we're as optimistic as we've ever been"... "for the last 12 years we've been working on this"... "we are working hard on it". Just ownership of the fact that, to date, the organization has failed to deliver a home of their own to the New England Revolution and the club's supporters.

"[W]e clearly failed at doing that."

Here's hoping that such candor and - dare I say it - humility bespeak a commitment to finally doing whatever it takes to get the job done.

 

Totally agree! "We clearly failed" sounds so much more encouraging than "At the end of the day, Gillette Stadium is a great place to watch a soccah game!"

Get Your Kicks!

 

Great minds - that too was my immediate reaction upon reading it on Saturday

So, so, so many chapters in the #NERevs stadium saga over prior decade+.

However, I think this is the first time I’ve explicitly seen the words “We failed” re:stadium actually spoken by the Krafts. As opposed to their more common & disingenuous responses of the past. pic.twitter.com/nrXfBoWyAO

— A Casual Fan (@A_Casual_Fan) December 6, 2020

The other key point is that the Revs clearly admitting that they aren't where they want to be doesn't mean they haven't been trying. I do believe they have been trying....

I do believe they’ve been trying. That’s not at odds with prior tweet.

Jonathan’s always hated being called on it, and has responded in an annoyed/petulant/dismissive manner when asked.

This is the 1st time I’ve seen him “man up”, if you will, on this tough question. #NERevs

— A Casual Fan (@A_Casual_Fan) December 6, 2020

....and perhaps this ability to speak plainly bodes well for the future. Perhaps.

And it’s a marked-enough departure from his long-standing entrenched norms that I’ll go out on a limb -

...at least for today...

...and be cautiously optimistic and consider that could be a good thing, a good sign for future. #NERevs

— A Casual Fan (@A_Casual_Fan) December 6, 2020

[Somewhere, the presence of Arena in the mgmt team equation is likely having an influence on what Krafts feel they can say out loud, and on what they perceive they have to do, roster-wise. This is the first Revs GM/coach where Krafts had to cede a little bit of their power - and because of his pedigree and stature, Bruce can to a certain degree hold them to account as part of their working relationship, something not really true for any other prior GM nor coach.]

 

This is a syntactical fail. That refers to the immediately preceding noun, so his statement is "We don't like failing and we clearly failed at [doing] failing."

I really hate to nit-pick at what is possibly the most momentous statement ever by the ownership about the stadium project.

 

We all have our hobbies.