IDLE CHATTER: A new Revolution stadium in RI?

[DaveRPI]

Pubic Funds?! Flag on the play! Where's Jerry02908?!

My only point was that we shouldn't build the stadium with Providence or Rhode Island dollars. As far as expressing interest in hosting; if we can put together a package of transportation/infrastructure improvements, tax credits, brownfields incentives, etc. then that's great. But I think the Hartford deal way back when Kraft was the hero who stopped the one-way train to St. Louis was the State of Connecticut was going to foot the bill for the whole thing just to get back in the pro sports game - until the people voted it down.

And I don't think it makes a lot of sense to build a new 25,000 seat stadium on the same property as a 5-year old state-of-the-art 68,000 seat stadium. Thats just my opinion...

great point

a soccer stadium would most likely never be builty on gillette stadium grounds

the whole talk for a new 'smaller' stadium is to bring it closer to fans and allow for a youth sports facility and a multi-use outdoor entertainment facility surrounding it. the league needs to get away from the NFL stadium identity by stepping out on its own and creating a new identity for professional soccer in the US

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/index.jsp

check out the team pages and some of the new stadiums, they are very impressive

i like the denver stadium

i like to say that a business needs to stand up on its own to be viable. plus, a private partnership is always more effective than a public one. that said, i still think the state/city could put a package together that would enable infrastructure and transportation improvements because it will need to get done at some point and would only benefit the community around it. sports are like the arts. they help our community become healthier and express themselves in many different ways. the youth sports complex is vital. so is the "multi-use" side of the project. read my first post. if those goals are achieved then it would be a huge success. but they will never be met and the state/city will never benefit from this unless it is built.

how do you upload a pdf?

you "met him a couple times" and you "couldnt trust him as far as you could throw him"

were you in business with him or were u just beggin for an autograph with the 10yr olds?! haha

[DaveRPI]

http://chicago.fire.mlsnet.com/MLS/chf/loa...tent=bridgeview

this one doubles as a top of the line outdoor entertainment facility as well, something the providence area could use. dont even say mccoy because it is strictly a baseball stadium and gets a lot more credit than it deserves on the "nice/top-tier, facility scale"

http://www.coloradorapids.com/index.asp

this one has a real nice youth sports facility in which a huge youth sports academy will run

http://la.galaxy.mlsnet.com/MLS/lag/stadium/

this one hosts all sorts of other year-round professional sporting events, including tennis- which our state should stake more of a claim for a large scale professional yearly tournament! very cool

hockey should do something like this, its almost like planting seeds in the young ones and then watching them grow right out there front window

by the way, asking around here at the office, a major sports franchise move to a new city would say a lot to corporations interested in locating there as well. teams will usually want to be located in viable business settings with plenty of private and corporate support so that means its sort of a win-win situation. no one is saying a stadium will be the sole reason for a company's move, but it will be another point taken into consideration and what it offers could push an area over the top. entertainment and recreation options for employees are very important to companies when relocating as well as its cost and im sure they would take both into account

[mod134]

Sorry DaveRPI but you're way off on this one!

Apparently, you know more than the Krafts about the art of marketing a sports franchise to a city for - economic development, civic pride and whatnot.

However, you keep trying to belittle those who have a difference of opinion, whether it be on how others perceive Mr. Kraft and his previous business dealings or exactly what, if any, benefits or incentives that a sports stadium brings to a city. It is at that point that you have lost my respect.

That being said, I think the debate about whether or not a stadium - and in this case an MLS franchise - would be beneficial to a city like Providence is still an open topic. I appreciate the obvious effort that you put into your proposal for the stadium to go near the hospitals, which is great since fans like to drink at the game!

Providence can use another sports franchise but it has to be the right fit for the city as far as city use and benefit goes. An Arena Football League has been floated, but that may not be the best use of the Dunk. A larger stadium would be good, particularly with the additions for youth to play and exercise. What team or league is partnered with that stadium is yet to be answered. Providence - the city and state leadership - is either ignoring this MLS offer or they are actively involved as one of the mystery cities. Only time will tell how this unfolds.

[DaveRPI]

Sorry DaveRPI but you're way off on this one!

Apparently, you know more than the Krafts about the art of marketing a sports franchise to a city for - economic development, civic pride and whatnot.

However, you keep trying to belittle those who have a difference of opinion, whether it be on how others perceive Mr. Kraft and his previous business dealings or exactly what, if any, benefits or incentives that a sports stadium brings to a city. It is at that point that you have lost my respect.

That being said, I think the debate about whether or not a stadium - and in this case an MLS franchise - would be beneficial to a city like Providence is still an open topic. I appreciate the obvious effort that you put into your proposal for the stadium to go near the hospitals, which is great since fans like to drink at the game!

Providence can use another sports franchise but it has to be the right fit for the city as far as city use and benefit goes. An Arena Football League has been floated, but that may not be the best use of the Dunk. A larger stadium would be good, particularly with the additions for youth to play and exercise. What team or league is partnered with that stadium is yet to be answered. Providence - the city and state leadership - is either ignoring this MLS offer or they are actively involved as one of the mystery cities. Only time will tell how this unfolds.

no belittlement, just very honest words

when someone says "this is my opinion, _______" then i have no issues, but when someone who says he met kraft once and wouldnt trust him as far as they can throw them then i think that is an unwarranted attack of someone's character without basis. especially since the article was about the stadium- not the owner and most especially since many people in the business and sports worlds would beg to differ greatly with their statements. they should provide facts and explanations for such statements and once rendered, we could continue on with the main point of the article, the outdoor stadium and youth sports facility- not the Krafts. so i dont appreciate you saying that i am belittling people. in my opinion i was defending someone and a group of people who arent really represented in the forum.

perception can become reality in a fast paced world where attention spans are short. i wanted to make sure the facts would come out. i didnt see any in some of those posts so i called them out on it plain and simple, sorry but sometimes i can be blunt... im not trying to personally attack anybody, in fact i was trying to point out that someone else was!

if you slow down and read my posts, you will see that i try to use as many facts or certainties as possible to back up my points of view. i am writing this at work so i have to be right to the point on certain things because of obvious time constraints so if i sound short, its because my time is limited. no need for the ultra-sensitivity. again, i am not making any personal statements about anyone in here- just commenting on the statements they make in posts. sort of like, "nothing personal, its just business"

i obviously will not always be right and i will always acknowledge others good ideas. trust me, just read the posts... on the other hand. i am not here to be "friends". i like to debate controversial projects, especially those i believe will be a great addition to my home state/city. this is fun for me. sometimes you just know about something, maybe more so than some others in certain subjects, and when you think someone is off-base then you want an honest discussion to take place so you will protect the facts and what you know. i'm not an expert at the ripe old age of 25 but i have some direct experience in architecture, urban planning, real estate, investments, and sports mgmt/marketing. the fact is, these are my favorite subjects to talk about and areas where i have worked or i am working in now. so its a lot of fun to bring up certain aspects of these areas that i know about and have fun with the debate. rarely do i post opinions with bold statements about subject matters that i am not atleast somewhat familiar with.

i started this thread so i decided to participate as much in the debate/discussion as possible because i felt this would be a good idea for the state. i never said it would be good for taxpayers to foot the bill. that was brought up by someone else who didnt read the article from boston.com that gave us the topic for the post. this is like my 5th time repeating this, but, it was more about how a new sport to take hold in a new city- a growing sport in a growing city sort of dichotomy and how it could be an economic catalyst if all went as stated in my first post.

btw- was the stadium near the hospital line sarcastic or do you actually like it? fenway is right near a few major hospitals and so are some other stadiums across the U.S., so i dont think their vicinity would be cause for non-development. i scanned the satellite images of the state and within providence there arent many areas where private development could come in and have a lot of land to work with. i suggested the south providence site for several reasons:

1. amount of "open" land in close proximity to downtown providence, jewelry district, and the waterfront. "open" meaning without very many permanent structures without regards for who owns it at this point

2. highway access, future public transportation access

3. an area that would embrace new business and development; chance for neighborhood renewal with the idea of including south providence in the downtown providence renassiance and basically something to be proud of

4. an area that would embrace urban development around said stadium complex

5. large seas of parking lots and there are probs parking at RI Hosp to begin with, possibility of solving a few problems by partnering to build a large muli-use parking facility with additional retail and office space for an area that could use it

6. neighborhood would embrace main sport to be played at facility

7. neighborhood and city might embrace youth sports facility in this area

8. development would include "affordable" and market rate housing and also plenty of chances for retail

9. proximity to local colleges and schools so as to foster chances for partnerships and uses of said facility

10. an area that would have a great view of downtown providence as its backdrop

my feeling is that something like what i am throwing out there as an idea could be successful and there would be a need or a vacuum for such a development in rhode island. look at the home depot center in suburban LA. its really a state of the art facility and hosts many sports and entertainment events year round. combining their idea with that of the colorado mls team's facility, which has a huge youth sports facility adjacent to it, i think could make for a very unique and beneficial attraction for providence and RI residents. soccer is the most popular sport in the world outside of the US, the int'l tennis hall of fame is in RI, tennis has a very long history in RI, the X-Games started in RI, there is a huge concentration of people in RI with family ties to europe and latin america- huge for soccer, and the northeast megalopolis is the most populated area of the country, wouldnt major concerts and outdoor festivals want to tour through a facility like this along the northeast US coast?

its not exact and its pretty sloppy, but i just wanted to show you really quickly what i was thinking in my head

have a nice day!!!!!

PS- i still dont like soccer, haha, but the multi-use and youth sports possibilities make this so fun to envision. way down the line this could even be a spot for a boston/new england olympics event or two if it were to ever come to boston!

[Cotuit]

Splitting Dave's image into a seperate post because it was too hard to read the text with such a large image stretching the screen.

[runawayjim]

thank you, now i can finish reading the post.

[runawayjim]

dave,

i think part of the issue that some people have is that neither the city of providence, nor the state or RI, can afford to build the stadium. i agree with you that it would be a great asset to the city and state and would work quite well for us. however, this would require kraft to fund the stadium. the other benefits the city would get would be great, but it's just not something they can afford right now (nor do i think i'd be willing to accept as a taxpayer).

[DaveRPI]

dave,

i think part of the issue that some people have is that neither the city of providence, nor the state or RI, can afford to build the stadium. i agree with you that it would be a great asset to the city and state and would work quite well for us. however, this would require kraft to fund the stadium. the other benefits the city would get would be great, but it's just not something they can afford right now (nor do i think i'd be willing to accept as a taxpayer).

i understand what your saying, valid concerns

and it can lead to all other types of discussions

but with the amount of activity and development coming to the city, i believe now is a good time to atleast talk about it. i'd say by 2010 before anything would be built. also, it should be a private venture, which would then put it out of taxpayers hands.

a question i gotta ask you guys tho, a casino gets a long look, but why not a sports, entertainment, and recreation complex????

sorry about the "giant" image, i didnt have time to shrink it

but look on local.live at the area and imagine something like there in that downtrodden area. there are numerous excuses to build it up if only something like this came along to the area

[runawayjim]

i understand what your saying, valid concerns

and it can lead to all other types of discussions

but with the amount of activity and development coming to the city, i believe now is a good time to atleast talk about it. i'd say by 2010 before anything would be built. also, it should be a private venture, which would then put it out of taxpayers hands.

a question i gotta ask you guys tho, a casino gets a long look, but why not a sports, entertainment, and recreation complex????

sorry about the "giant" image, i didnt have time to shrink it

but look on local.live at the area and imagine something like there in that downtrodden area. there are numerous excuses to build it up if only something like this came along to the area

i think a lot of people here are against the idea of the casino. i wouldn't have a problem with amending teh state's constitution to allow one had the amendment not specifically said "narragansetts" and "west warwick". it's too bad that the state wouldn't allow competition for one. trump's deal seemed better.

but i agree, i think something like this should've been looked at and it would be good to bring it up to the city... maybe they could have some leverage and get some sponsors to fund it rather than taxpayer money.

[Dan]

The complex they have in Colorado is great. Then again, I think you can fit our entire state within Denver city limits, and the open space on which to build out there is plentiful.

Can somebody shrink that image so it can fit on one screen instead of 8 screens when scrolling down and right?!