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A bigger, more dynamic St. Louis riverfront is within view

February 14, 2015 by jimmycsays

In the cat-and-mouse, high-stakes game between St. Louis and Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke, I am rooting hard for the city to emerge with a new riverfront stadium — and either keeping the Rams or getting another NFL team down the road.

With its many corporate headquarters, Heartland location and rich sports history, St. Louis is too good a city not to have an NFL team.

stadium site2But the main reason I want St. Louis to pull this off is that a new open-air, riverfront stadium in a blighted area north of the Edward Jones Dome would be a fabulous extension of the city’s $400 million “CityArchRiver” project, which is well underway.

As great an attraction as the Arch is, it has always been cut off from downtown by Interstate 44, which lies between the Arch and downtown, and has been hard to get to. In addition, the ground around the Arch has been very uninviting, just a big patch of unattractive and often-littered grass.

When Patty and I were there last year, we navigated our way in the car down to the riverfront area and parked a few blocks from the Arch in a lot that was chained off but not securely enough to keep me from squeezing past. Then we walked along a cobblestone, potentially ankle-busting street to get to the Arch grounds.

The key element to the CityArchRiver project is construction of a park over I-44, meaning people will be able to walk straight from downtown to the Arch grounds. When the project is completed, perhaps sometime next year, it should significantly increase visitor traffic to the Arch and make the experience of visiting the Arch grounds a memorable experience.

courthouse-slide-1

A park being built over I-44 (center) from the Old Courthouse to the Gateway Arch will allow people to walk from downtown to the Arch grounds.

The CityArchRiver project includes new spaces for events, expanded museum space, bicycle trails, children’s play areas and performance venues.

** 

Of course, building a new stadium for the Rams — or another team the city might attract in the future — is going to be expensive. The new stadium would cost about $900 million, including more than $400 million in public funds.

The potential loss of the Rams got serious in January, when Kroenke, a Missouri boy who married a Walton girl, unveiled a plan to build a stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with his own money. The Rams can easily leave St. Louis because they are on a year-to-year lease, unlike the Chiefs long-term lease with Jackson County. 

50f0c762b23ab.preview-620

Site of the proposed new open-air stadium. north of the Edward Jones Dome.

Fortunately, St. Louis didn’t just sit down and wring its hands. Gov. Jay Nixon — no doubt sick of being pummeled for his lack of leadership in the Ferguson upheaval last summer — jumped into action. He appointed a stadium task force, and this week Nixon announced a deal to move rail lines to make way for a new stadium just north of the existing Edward Jones Dome.

It would cost about $25 million to move the rail lines, and, as far as I can tell, it’s not yet clear who would pay.

Yesterday, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz tipped his hat to Nixon for his hands-on approach to the Rams/riverfront situation. Miklasz said Nixon has had at least three recent discussions with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Miklasz said Nixon also participated Tuesday in a meeting that included the NFL’s executive vice president.

At the news conference where he announced the deal on the railroad tracks, Nixon sketched an alluring picture of a new, fleshed-out St. Louis riverfront. He said:

“This is a historic opportunity to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment to this area, build an iconic stadium that will stand the test of time, and transform these deserted streets into a thriving destination for residents, workers, tourists and football fans.”

If St. Louis can pull this off, I’ll be among the tourists visiting the new Arch grounds and possibly the stadium. And I’ll be parking downtown, not in a chained-off lot on a cobblestone street.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

4 Responses

  1. on February 14, 2015 at 4:23 pm Thomas R Shrout Jr

    Jim, http://nextstl.com/2015/02/math-north-riverfront-stadium/ is probably the most read economic development blog in St. Louis. A bunch of young guys and gals with far more energy than you and I have now write it. They have about 15k followers. The link is to what they had to say about the proposed stadium. Next time you are in St. Louis, I will take you to the Arch Grounds on MetroLink and we will look at the progress and look at the proposed new stadium site which is about a half-mile from MetroLink’s Laclede Station exit, about three times as far as the Edward Jones Dome is from MetroLink’s Convention Center Station. Thousands of fans and game day workers access the Jones Dome on light rail. A proposed North/South light rail expansion would stop within a couple of blocks of the Jones Dome. Bottom line, I haven’t made up my mind about this; still listening and reading. See you in a couple of weeks.


    • on February 14, 2015 at 4:38 pm jimmycsays

      I’ve got at least three St. Louis readers, including you, Tom, and I was hoping one or more of you would weigh in on this. Just reading about the proposal from 250 miles away, I don’t know the ins and outs…The MetroLink’s relatively distant stop from the proposed stadium is a big concern. That has gridlock written all over it. I would think an extension would be needed. Should be able to get that for a few hundred grand, huh? (Yeah, sure.)

      Thanks for the link and the observations.


  2. on February 16, 2015 at 11:55 am Jason Schneider

    Free advice to St. Louis…

    Don’t use Cordish for planning/developer, or it will end up like P&L, with revenue way under projections and leaving taxpayers with the bill$.


    • on February 16, 2015 at 12:02 pm Thomas R Shrout Jr

      Cordish is the developer of Ball Park Village adjacent to Busch Stadium, and so far it is over-promised and under-delivered. I don’t know the finances of it.



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