I think with this location that the city could throw in something else small, like a 6-pack of beer, and we would still see a Firehouse there in a few years. I know that PW has said over and over again that it's going to come down to the finacial plan but how could you ask for a better location that is realistic?
Back in Black! ... no but seriously, I wholeheartedly agree with Sr. Burden on this one. You can't beat the city location, and unlike the suburbs where you could potentially see a decline in attendance over time as the "novelty factor" wears off (PW's words, not mine), you'd be guaranteed a local fan base that puts soccer ahead of other sports and therefore would be most likely to attend games no matter what the other crackers do.
Rumor is that AEG is may buy ManU -- pockets are very deep over there. If they chose the View over the Port over something "trivial" like $20 million, I'll be bummed.
how about build the stadium in Bridgeport and practice facilities and fields in Bridgeview? The team has to practice somewhere and I highly doubt you can take land in the City and use it for that purpose. The 50 acres we need covers the stadium and parking, but the practice fields still have to go somewhere.
http://www.terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=12&x=559&y=5788&z=16&w=2 Aerial photo of the site in question
woot Well, guess I was wrong about the team staying in Soldier Field. I just want to know how Kenn knew the "secret location" was right by Comiskey. Of course, it makes a ton of sense in retrospect, but I didn't see any of us figure it out on these boards.
Re: woot We still might. All depends on how this shakes out with regard to finances, etc. It's been long rumored, and it's odd how these things come full circle. That same area was talked about for a stadium when the original set of idealistic plans were drawn up.
Although the chicago location is the most centrally located, I wonder how much money the city is willing to contribute compared to the suburban communities.
Thats a crap area and if we do go there, I really hope we don't draw any Sox fans. A big thumbs down for me. I went to school at IIT so I know what I'm talking about, unless things have changed drastically since 1890.
Well, really 1983 but after the last game, people were giving me guff about my gray hair. When I went to college, we would only go out in groups. The average robbery was for $9. I don't remember people getting mugged much in Bridgeport. We would only go out drinking near Comiskey and you couldn't go there at all if you were African-American because they would get the crap knocked out of them. Weird area. I'm sure things have changed, but I have bad memories (of what I can actually remember).
I'm thrilled about the choice! Besides, neighborhood revitalization has to start with someone. Might as well be the Fire. Plus, who wants their team in a posh part of town?
Too late. I already attend games. I can't say I'm hugely surprised about the area. I think it's a great location. The Sox owners did a horrible job of community relations, and I think that the Fire front office will do a much better job integrating the stadium, the team, and the neighborhood. I still believe that stadiums can revitalize a community, it just takes some work that the Sox owners weren't willing to do. And I second the motion on putting the practice fields in Bridgeview. Make it a little Ciudad Deportivo like Real Madrid has (which will soon be past tense when they move to their new digs) on La Castellana. I just hope everything works out.
I don't think you realise how drastically things have indeed changed. IIT is on the other side of the expressway but even that area is coming around. Really, my only concern is if we do end up south of Comiskey I hope that someone finds a way to allow the stadium to face the skyline without seeing the crap bare rear end of the Cell.
You're being thrilled wouldn't have anything to do with being, what, 10 mins away at most. It's a win-win situation for us south siders, since Soldier Field is so easy to get to also. I'm not sure about revitalization on the west side of the Dan Ryan, particularly the area south of Comisky (as Bridgeport seems to be a nice area already). But there is much redevelopment going on the east side of the Dan Ryan, as most of the high rise public housing is being torn down and rebuilt as mixed income/use development.
Well, maybe it's just some bad memories. It really was crap in the 80's. I'm gonna have to take a road trip down there. Last time I was at a Sox game, we never cruised the neighborhood. And I didn't mean to bash all Sox fans (my apologies for that comment), just the ones I always seem to sit around when down there. It also invokes images of those morons who jumped the players on the field.
Bridgeport It's my guess that Mayor Daley is trying to revitalize that corridor on both sides of the Dan Ryan, and try to make up for the lack of forward thinking that went into the building of New Comiskey. (Don't get me wrong, on the lower deck it's a nice ballpark and a nice place to see a game, it's just that when I think of what could have been....) It seems to me that if the Firehouse ends up being built along 39th St, they will if at all possible take out the low-rise public housing just south of Comiskey and perhaps try to put in some restaurants and other sports-related destinations. Being a northwest suburbanite, it's not the ideal location for me personally, but I think it's a good place for the Firehouse to be. I hope it happens.
Re: Bridgeport I drove by this area yesterday looking around, and was trying to figure out if the housing just east of the Comisky south parking lots were low-rise housing projects or just real low-income apartments. Wonder if these are the same you are talking about.
So will there be enough parking if the Firehouse is built on one of those parking lots? And what about when the Sox have a home game? Are we going to have to wait before its ends before the Fire can play due to the traffic/parking concerns? And will our night-games be limited since most of their home games are at night? If the point of having our own SSS is so we can control our schedule, it seems like this location may result in that we won't have complete control of our schedule.