According to thus posting, more than just the upper bowl being removed. Could be different by now though. No upper bowl. February 12, 2019 document. pic.twitter.com/GpUYm34NRK— Keith Naas, xpeaker of the houxe (@knaas) January 31, 2020
I think you get the three fields next to the stadium. I would not expect more than that. Fairgrounds will really fight to keep the parking. New fields would be where the drainage thingy is--so no loss of parking. Maybe the indoor facility. Maybe.
I don’t disagree and my memory might be failing me but USL wants to have “standards” for its level. That would mean on and off the field which MLS 2 teams are generally not meeting.
I have the figure the only reason they want to stay on the fairgrounds at all is because of the cheap lease. To leave they would have to return the grounds to original state, not an insignificant amount of money, but not gigantic either. But to go elsewhere they'd need to buy land and pay taxes. That would add up quickly. Renewing the lease on the fairgrounds is least expensive. It's just no where near ideal. There is just no possible way to shoehorn a complete training facility there. I understand why they're looking to reuse the site, I just think it's shortsighted and as a Crew II and U-19 academy with potential residency type stuff comes about, they'll need more space than would be available. There have been a lot of tensions between USL and MLS over the MLS reserve teams that play in USL. I'd not be surprised if they kick them all out. An return of the MLS reserve league would be great. I still think, because of the short nature of soccer games that playing the reserve game before the MLS game to get a 5 hour block of attendance, getting 3 or 4k folks to show up early would generate more interest and $s than having separate events and ticketing.
So, what’s the deal with that drainage thingy? (I think I remember someone called it “Skank Lake.”) It certainly is there because it must serve a purpose; otherwise, why would the Fairgrounds have been willing to lose parking spaces there? And if it does serve a purpose, how is it that now there’s talk of filling it in and making either field(s) or parking spaces out of it?
I don't know this for certain but I'd wager a guess it's the site detention basin, collecting storm water from the site and discharging it at a slower flow to the drainage ditch that ultimately takes the stormwater to the river. This can be replaced with underground detention. Basically a pond in the form of storage pipes that they can build upon.
That's about what they did with the new parking lot at my workplace, as it is close to the river. Apparently at least one big underground cistern--that's completely covered by the lot now.
In the recent (well, a few months ago) update about the state of the Mapfre project, the overall parking space losses were still about 1,500. Based on the initial plan, it was more than 1,900 spaces. When the project was pared back, the indoor soccer field has already been removed from the plan, and the community fields were cut back a bit, too. The original plan was for about 50 acres; then it was pared back to 40. Of course, where there's a will, and funding, there's away. There are reportedly other areas on that site where some (a few hundred) new parking spaces can be added. But for the most part, the task force working on this seems to be doing its business out of the limelight. I just hope they can work it out, and somehow add back in some of the features originally advertised. And doesn't the Obetz lease expire again today?
Huh. Then I wonder why they didn’t just make it an underground detention basin from the get-go, and have a lot more parking spaces this whole time?
$ A lot cheaper to just dig a hole than to buy a bunch of storage pipe and gravel for the bedding/backfill.
@BigStern 's response, but also we need to take the Expo Center's claims about the value of/demand for surface parking in the area with a grain of salt. During the Quarter Horse Congress, absolutely. When the State Fair is in town, youbetcha. The rest of the year... not so much. I'd like to be a fly on the wall during the Task Force meetings. Eventually, we'll hear about what the plan is, but I'm horribly impatient.
Hopefully they get serious soon with finalizing and moving these plans forward. The new USL, and Academy deserve this. Considering the weather, an indoor full field facility would also be ideal. This task force seems to be moving at a snail's pace. Any news on the Obetz Lease?
How are the 17s going to do in the upcoming GA Cup? https://www.mlssoccer.com/generation-adidas-cup/2020/qualifying
I'm excited to announce that I've verbally committed to Yale University to further my academic and athletic career. Thank you to my coaches, teachers, family and everyone who helped me along the way. @YaleMSoccer #ThisIsYale pic.twitter.com/Oqdw0sSRYG— TJ Presthus (@tjpresthus) July 11, 2020
As I recall, the Ivy's have no athletic scholarships... But he will be able to concentrate on academics as a freshman--assuming Yale is actually open. I will not be surprised if football is the only fall sport played--and that only by the big schools.