January 10, 2007
Utah soccer stadium follies
So in the last 24 hours, in quick succession:
- Utah house speaker Greg Curtis declared the $110 million Real Salt Lake soccer stadium plan to be all but dead, and threatened to reallocate the stadium funds to other purposes. "I sat in meetings with three or four county elected officials, and they signed to principles in writing," he said. "And nothing's been done, and I don't think it's going to happen."
- Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts insisted that the deal was "90 percent" complete, and that he hoped "cooler heads" would prevail to keep talks going.
- Salt Lake County's district attorney announced that the proposed stadium site may contain toxic waste.
That was all yesterday. Today, the consulting firm Economics Research Associates was scheduled to deliver its economic impact report on the stadium. If you don't remember ERA from their past work in Dallas and New York, here's Checketts describing their analytical chops: "I've heard people say, 'This is a skinny model. We're counting dead bodies. ...' It's an aggressive model, but this is what I do for a living." I thought that's what this guy did for a living.
COMMENTS
With Beckham signing in LA, it will be a boon for the pro soccer stadium folk. Your thoughts Neil?
Posted by: Bertell Ollman on January 11, 2007 05:27 PM
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