Hold on to your hats, here's a four week old photo of a small hole in the ground on the DCU stadium site. I;ll bet it's a bigger hole now. https://instagram.com/p/BFjIxhgqANN/
Given that a scrap yard used to sit on part of the site I assume that some contamination clean up is necessary. An as sitruc mentioned, that's being done by the District before handing the site over to DCU for construction. Turnover of the site is supposed to be October 1.
There is a lot of infrastructure work being done in that area, not only at the exact stadium site, but the blocks around it. As I understand it, there are sewer, power, and communication lines being put in there for use of the - potentially - several developments to come in that area. Or maybe I heard wrong. I can at least attest to the buzz of work over there as I've cycled by to and from Nats games this year. I think that there have been several things on that site in the past which could have left bad things hidden under ground there. Hopefully, none of them are serious roadblocks...but that's my personal last hold back to getting excited that this is all going to happen. Once the foundations and footings are dug and set, and no long remediation process is needed, then I'll believe.
Thanks for the info. I work for the county and heard today that the renovated Lincolnia Community Center looks real nice. There's a re-opening ceremony there this weekend I think.
As i see the model I am confused--the stadium stands behind the northern goal post (where the score board is) will be incomplete. What is that huge hole with that low grey building?
It's just another poorly thought out area since the design ideas were confused from iteration to iteration. That building has ~5 suites and club seating.
Thanks for clearing that up--I guess now it makes sense. It might have been nicer aesthetically if the suites with club seating had been incorporated into the stands of the stadium, but i guess a separate building might work just as well.
Some Populous propaganda The Driving Force behind MLS Stadium Design http://populous.com/posts/driving-force-behind-mls-stadium-design/
Just got our season ticket renewals for the new stadium in Orlando. Interesting stuff. The basic ticket prices remained the same. But then they designated different places as "premium" seating. For example, the first row of each section is "premium" and it carries a pretty hefty premium. Because I was on the end of a row, the computer decided I should get "premium" seating in the new stadium. So I'm on the first row of tier two instead of towards the back of field level where the rest of the people in my section are, including people that bought after me. I suppose that is all well and good, and maybe the first row of Tier two is actually a better seat. But the "premium" is over 50%. So even if the seat is better, it doesn't appear to me to be 50% better. And I'd rather be with the same group of people I've been sitting with now. The good news is that I "should" be able to move. Maybe. But first I have to renew at a higher price and then "maybe" I get closer to where I'd like to be which is actually more similar to where I am now. But I digress. The non-premium areas are only a small price increase over this year. So eventually it will all work itself out, I suppose.
The level of support in Orlando is great thus far. Of course the team is still new and no really bad seasons yet, but that doesn't take away from what supporters' have accomplished. Here in DC there are 10-15K pretty loyal fans, and I think ownership will try to impose as high a ticket price as possible on them in the new stadium. I'm not criticizing - that's what's going its to take start bringing in enough revenue to justify owners spending more on talent. With ownership investing $150 million in stadium construction I'[m willing to pay more. But not too much I hope.....
There's trouble in Twin Cities. Necessary stadium tax breaks were not approved due to an error in drafting the budget bill. Everyone seems to believe that it will happen, but will have to wait until the next legislative session unless the governor calls a special summer session. Everything you want to know, and more, in this article. LAFC takes possession of the LA Sports Arena by July 23, at which point the walls come tumblin' down. St. Paul’s soccer stadium was supposed to break ground in June. What happens now?
FWIW I drove around that Midway site. Might actually prefer it to the stadium end of Minneapolis. In addition to transit options and colleges and people actually living right nearby, there's a boutique pubby main street on one side and more low-down diversity on the other. It could be amazing, and a remarkable, uniting landmark for the Twin Cities. However, the security guard patrolling the empty lots said the Loon's owners haven't even had a conversation with the folks who own the surrounding retail and some of the lots. Not a great sign.