js4life 30 Report post Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) ^^cool stadium but legion would look nothing like it does today if it were upgraded to MLS standards. Providence Park in Portland is a good example of a retrofit of a older(built in 1927) stadium Edited January 28, 2015 by js4life Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jt282506 3854 Report post Posted January 28, 2015 Woah that stadium looks sick. Screw historical value, give me one of those. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
km1789 75 Report post Posted January 28, 2015 Woah that stadium looks sick. Screw historical value, give me one of those. How very "Charlotte" of you..... 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tozmervo 8393 Report post Posted January 28, 2015 Heh. TBH it's tough to find much historical value in the physical stadium itself. Yes, the stone wall is nice... but is that it? That stone can be taken down and reused in a new stadium. In fact a lot of it has to come down to widen the thing. If that's the only hold-up, well, just bulldoze the thing and build it proper. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SouthEndCLT811 956 Report post Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) Wow Indy Eleven going all in to try and get one of those MLS spots for expansion. I think Memorial will work just fine while at the USL level. I think if we ever get to MLS then we need to look elsewhere for a stadium. My vote would be for Scaleybark station if in 5,7,10 however many years from now we get MLS and the land where the park and ride is still empty. Looking at Sporting KC's park a stadium would be of comparable size from Freeland Lane to South cross over to Dewitt lane just above the parking lot showing in the satellite view and back down to Freeland. We still have the east side of that area for TOD and some development northside to Clanton. I may also be bullish on this area as I just bought a place a half mile from this proposal https://www.google.com/maps/place/Scaleybark+Station/@35.191234,-80.8751412,1078m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xaf8067b750be7fbf Edited January 28, 2015 by SouthEndCLT811 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sharkdawg 15 Report post Posted January 29, 2015 No way should the team move from Legion Stadium. The location is great and the view of the skyline from their is insane. It could easily be upgraded to MLS level if need be. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SouthEndCLT811 956 Report post Posted January 29, 2015 No way should the team move from Legion Stadium. The location is great and the view of the skyline from their is insane. It could easily be upgraded to MLS level if need be. Completely agree and that is option number 1. I just threw out Scaleybark as an in-town location if for some unforeseen circumstance Memorial Stadium couldn't be up-fitted to the standards that MLS expects out of an expansion team's stadium. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MilZ 282 Report post Posted March 24, 2015 http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/queen_city_agenda/2015/03/charlotte-independence-needs-to-score-permits.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+charlotte_blog_queencity+%28Charlotte+Queen+City+Agenda%29&utm_term=%23cltcc+ Every time time new information about this renovation it's more and more frustrating. Renovations now not likely completed until the 2017 season. The temporary stadium at Ramblewood is having a hard enough time getting approval in time to host their 4th regular season home game in May. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ah59396 3255 Report post Posted March 24, 2015 http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/queen_city_agenda/2015/03/charlotte-independence-needs-to-score-permits.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+charlotte_blog_queencity+%28Charlotte+Queen+City+Agenda%29&utm_term=%23cltcc+ Every time time new information about this renovation it's more and more frustrating. Renovations now not likely completed until the 2017 season. The temporary stadium at Ramblewood is having a hard enough time getting approval in time to host their 4th regular season home game in May. I have come to find that if the city or county are involved...it's going to take forever to do anything. Our transit takes eons to build. Greenways apparently require a decade of work. A 75 year old stadium requires 6 years of negotiation prior to a renovation. There must be some supremely wicked red tape in North Carolina that I'm not aware of. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tozmervo 8393 Report post Posted March 24, 2015 Hah. Triple those times in the Northeast. We don't have the additional bureaucracy of unions here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birky 312 Report post Posted March 24, 2015 Perhaps the just announced budget shortfall has impacted the negotiations. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Third Strike 699 Report post Posted June 27, 2015 Instead of renovation, the city of Charlotte is considering using funds from the tourism funds to tear down the stadium, and build a new one from the ground up: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article25590859.html The first phase would be only 9000 seats, but with room to expand more. In the second phase, the stadium would have up to 25,000 seats, along with suites and other amenities that a MLS would desire. They also discussed the future of the Grady Cole Center, rather if it would need to be rebuilt or not. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spartan 1511 Report post Posted June 29, 2015 Can we just go ahead and inventory everything built before 1960 and set up a schedule for demolition? 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cltbwimob 1556 Report post Posted June 29, 2015 Can we just go ahead and inventory everything built before 1960 and set up a schedule for demolition? Can't wait for another historic structure to get torn down...They should at least keep some of the original stands. I guess this is not a done deal yet, so maybe it won't ever materialize. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
atlrvr 4246 Report post Posted June 29, 2015 Better use = let it fall into decay for ~ 2000 years, then give tours as historic sporting site, built just prior to the peak of the United States of America empire....BAM! Tourist draw! ... Edit: Haha....just went to read about the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Wikipedia since I knew it re-used the existing historic stone stadium and found this great bit of commentary. Some wanted to tear the stadium down and build a new one from scratch, while others favoured letting it slowly crumble "like the Colosseum in Rome". Maybe that means' will follow their lead, and conclude Option C is best, and spend a couple hundred million and renovate it into something iconic Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Niner National 830 Report post Posted June 29, 2015 If Memorial Stadium were in great shape, I'd absolutely want them to keep the structure, but it has already been largely destroyed. Between the sinkhole that destroyed the endzone seating and the upper level that was condemned and taken down, are we really losing all that much by starting over? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SouthEndCLT811 956 Report post Posted June 29, 2015 Is it true the rock wall is the only part of the stadium listed as a historic landmark? If so, keep that but redo the rest. This could be used for so much more if redone as the city/team outlined in the Observer article. Crew Stadium in Columbus is a good example of how a soccer specific stadium can be multi-purposed for more than sports. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kermit 11952 Report post Posted June 29, 2015 I kinda like Memorial stadium as it is, however I gotta admit its in awful shape in almost every way. There is very little about it other than the rock wall and its location that has any charm or utility. FWIW Portland did a spectacular job retrofitting its old, in-town minor-league baseball park into an MLS facility. The name sponsor for the renovated stadium was Jeld-Win, a company that actually moved its HQ to Charlotte a few years ago. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MilZ 282 Report post Posted June 30, 2015 I'm torn between the two. If they could save the stadium without it turning into a money pit that would be awesome. I love the wall as well but that will come down and need to be rebuilt with the soccer-specific renovation either way. On the other hand, a new, partially-covered modern stadium at this location could be one of the best venues in the States. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
archiham04 942 Report post Posted June 30, 2015 I would love to see a total teardown, but a rebuild that reflected its history. A true bowl (i love bowled stadiums) open to uptown, with a widenened field for MLS soccer, a low stone wall surrounding the field, and some old school scoreboards. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grodney 2952 Report post Posted July 2, 2015 I'm sure somebody is doing real renderings, but MSPaint works for now. Sporting KC? Or Aviva? 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cltbwimob 1556 Report post Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) ^^^No thanks to either one or any new stadium for that matter. If McPhillamy wants to have a truly special stadium, he will retrofit what is there for soccer. Replacing a stadium built through the WPA that is on historic registries with something, which, in 20-30 years time will be functionally obsolete itself is an idea that should be quickly abandoned. The Portland model of renovating an existing stadium is much more desirable here IMHO. Rather than simply having a placard that says "This is where Memorial Stadium once stood", we could actually have a fully functional monument to our history. I understand there will need to be structural upgrades to bring it to spec, but for the love of God, the last thing we need is to have another piece of our soul replaced with some shiny new thing. ***Edit-I guess at least new Memorial Stadium could serve as some sort of twisted "memorial" to all of Charlotte's history that has been razed, including the structure it would replace. In that sense it would be sooooo Charlotte. Edited July 2, 2015 by cltbwimob 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SouthEndCLT811 956 Report post Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) ^^^No thanks to either one or any new stadium for that matter. If McPhillamy wants to have a truly special stadium, he will retrofit what is there for soccer. Replacing a stadium built through the WPA that is on historic registries with something, which, in 20-30 years time will be functionally obsolete itself is an idea that should be quickly abandoned. The Portland model of renovating an existing stadium is much more desirable here IMHO. Rather than simply having a placard that says "This is where Memorial Stadium once stood", we could actually have a fully functional monument to our history. I understand there will need to be structural upgrades to bring it to spec, but for the love of God, the last thing we need is to have another piece of our soul replaced with some shiny new thing. ***Edit-I guess at least new Memorial Stadium could serve as some sort of twisted "memorial" to all of Charlotte's history that has been razed, including the structure it would replace. In that sense it would be sooooo Charlotte. Agree and I think the team gets that. I'll out myself on UP but I replied to my buddy @crowntownguy who writes Crown Town Soccer and some Charlotte Agenda about the Op-Ed there today regarding Memorial. Wade is the Chief Revenue Officer of the Hounds/Independence who want to update the stadium So here's a little insight on the mindset of the ownership group. Excuse my grammar on twitter, I'm long winded and usually end up deleting out key words to fit 140 characters haha https://twitter.com/Leaphart3/status/616615378811244544 Edited July 2, 2015 by SouthEndCLT811 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grodney 2952 Report post Posted July 2, 2015 I'm fine with the old stadium, or a shiny new one --- I just want it done. I want to go watch soccer there. Now. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cltbwimob 1556 Report post Posted July 2, 2015 Agree and I think the team gets that. I'll out myself on UP but I replied to my buddy @crowntownguy who writes Crown Town Soccer and some Charlotte Agenda about the Op-Ed there today regarding Memorial. Wade is the Chief Revenue Officer of the Hounds/Independence who want to update the stadium So here's a little insight on the mindset of the ownership group. Excuse my grammar on twitter, I'm long winded and usually end up deleting out key words to fit 140 characters haha https://twitter.com/Leaphart3/status/616615378811244544 I read the twitter exchange. I must ask, and no disrespect intended here, but does it really matter when the author of the Agenda Op-Ed last went to the stadium? I've never been to Yellowstone. Does that mean I would have no right to be incensed if someone suggested building a resort right over the top of Old Faithful? Soccer is the sport of the millenial generation. Millenials more than perhaps any recent generation, are concerned with social responsibility-whether it be the rights of minority groups, environmental stewardship, or protecting our history. Therefore it is only fitting, in the case of the Memorial Stadium site, to do the socially responsible thing and renovate what is already there. If it is not feasible from a financial standpoint to repurpose the existing stadium for soccer, then the team should find some massive open space somewhere else in town and build a new one. Eastland would be a candidate, the parking lots behind Bojangles Coliseum would be a candidate, the land around Scaleybark station (I'm sure the developers there would love to have a future MLS stadium incorporated into their plans), etc. Anywhere but the one location where another one of our few remaining historic structures will fall victim to the wrecking ball is fine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
