Poll, Do You Care if the St. Louis Rams Leave St. Louis?
Chip Rosenbloom & Lucia Rodrigue will be selling their 60% stake in the St. Louis Rams NFL team. They inherited the controlling interest when their mom, Georgia Frontiere, passed away in January 2008. The remaining 40% share is owned by Stan Kroenke, a Columbia Missouri native.
If a local/Missouri buyer is found the Rams are probably staying put for a while. But if an out of town buyer takes a majority share it is likely they will seek to move the team when their lease in St. Louis expires.
My poll this week asks simply if you care. You have only 3 choices:
- I don’t want them to leave.
- I do want them to leave.
- I don’t care if they stay or go.
Many factors may play into your decision. You may enjoy the games or you may not like football but think our civic pride depends on having an NFL team. Or you may think a football team is too costly to the community. Or you may just not care. The poll is located in the upper right of the main page.
I personally don’t care if they stay or go. Although if they leave I’ll probably find the views of loss as highly irritating. If the Rams stay, no doubt I’ll find the probably dome replacement equally irritating. Either way I think in 5 years we will face questions as a community: can we live without an NFL team or will we be willing to fund a new stadium? There is no place downtown for a new stadium so location would be debated.
Stay or leave I see the existing Edward Jones Dome as empty and hopefully razed. The four city blocks occupied by the current dome are needed to reconnect downtown to the near-North neighborhood.
I see the area shaded above as being rebuilt and filled in with active streets. If we can get rid of I-70. after the new Mississippi River bridge opens, we have a chance to reconnect an even bigger portion of our city. See Reconnecting St Louis to the Mississippi; Don’t Cover the Highway, 86 It. Maybe in five years we can get rid of the convention center as well — that would be six more blocks to be reclaimed and rebuilt.Â
I’d be happy to see them moved to the east side of the Mississippi River right across from the Arch. With any luck, it would replace they ugly Cargill plant.
Steve, let me get this straight. You would want to rid downtown St Louis of a building that attracts 80,000 people to downtown 10 times/year fpr Rams games? In addition to the Rams attracting people of the area to downtown and the added plus of instilling a little civic pride in having a NFL team, it serves as part of the Convention Center, which attracts x number of people to events in the St Louis area. But I see you’d like to get rid of that too? WHY?
wow…do some research before posting this stupid article.
uh, where do we vote?
And Busch Stadium too. It sets idle October through April, all massive and lifeless. And not one of those bricks should remain atop another and the ground beneath it should be sown with salt.
Rams only get to play 8 times a year, maybe one day they will get to play 10. The stadium also doesn’t attract 80k each game… maybe 40k?
If the NFL was a stock… i would SELL SELL SELL. College football is much much bigger now a days. Saturday is the new “Sunday.” I say we have fun with the rams for the next 5 years. If we do build a new stadium, I too hope it is across the river, on the river.
wrong…nfl is king
The following would not be happening downtown likely if we were to get rid of the Dome/America’s Center…
America’s Center Convention Complex
Upcoming Public Events
Pokémon Video Game National Championship
6/27/2009 – 6/28/2009
http://www.pokemonvgc.com
Major League Baseball All-Star FanFest
7/10/2009 – 7/14/2009
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. (10-13); 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (14)
Cost: $30.00 adult; $25.00 children 2-12, seniors 65+ and college & military; $15.00 after 6:00 p.m. (only available for walk purchases at America’s Center); Free children under 2
http://www.allstargame.com
An interactive baseball theme park featuring more than 40 interactive exhibits and attractions, Major League clinics and seminars, free autograph sessions with Cardinals legends and Hall of Famers, memorabilia and much more. Family Packs available for $90.00 (2 adult, 2 youth); $110.00 (2 adult, 3 youth); $130.00 (2 adult; 4 youth); and $150.00 (2 adult, 5 youth).
Taco Bell All-Star Sunday
7/12/2009
http://www.allstargame.com
Feautring the XM All-Star Futures Game and the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game.
Gatorade All-Star Workout Day
7/13/2009
http://www.allstargame.com
Featuring State Farm Home Run Derby.
Major League Baseball All-Star Game Red Carpet Show presented by Chevrolet
7/14/2009
http://www.allstargame.com
The Wedding Show
8/16/2009 – 8/17/2009
http://www.stlbrideandgroom.com
St. Louis Travel Show
9/10/2009 – 9/14/2009
http://www.rocketstarshows.com
The Wedding Show
1/9/2010 – 1/10/2010
http://www.stlbrideandgroom.com
St. Louis RV Vacation & Travel Show
1/14/2010 – 1/17/2010
http://www.stlrv.com
Almost 400 recreational vehicles will be on display. There will also be RV parts available, accessories, campgrounds, resorts, destinations and a great variety of other products.
American Spirit Northern National Finals
1/23/2010 – 1/24/2010
The St. Louis Auto Show
1/28/2010 – 1/31/2010
http://www.saintlouisautoshow.com
Hundreds of new cars, trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles will be on display representing domestic and foreign manufacturers.
Grand Slam of Motorsports
2/6/2010
http://www.monsterjamonline.com
St. Louis Boat and Sports Show
2/10/2010 – 2/14/2010
http://www.stlouisboatshow.com
The show features the latest boats, engines, marine accessories and more in the boating industry.
Builders Home and Garden Show
2/25/2010 – 2/28/2010
http://www.stlhomeshow.com
This consumer show offers 5 shows in one, showcasing the latest in Lawn & Garden, Kitchen & Bath, Interior Design, Pool & Spas and Building Products.
Mizuno Mid-East Qualifier
3/19/2010 – 3/21/2010
NCAA Men’s Basketball Regionals
3/26/2010 – 3/28/2010
I vote to let them stay if there is no public funding and they pay for the use of the dome and all the upgrades. If they need corporate welfare, let them look for another city willing to subsidize all the millionaire owners and players. Eight games’ worth of fans, most of whom do not patronize downtown businesses (except parking garages) does not justify the waste of developable space. Subsidizing them is only insulting.
The problem with large, “multi-purpose” facilities – the Jones Dome is not a good football stadium and it’s not a good exhibition hall. I really don’t care if the Rams stay or leave, but I have no interest in subsidizing upgrades for a facility that is essentially corporate welfare for a bunch of millionaires – let some other area subsidize ’em if we’re gonna be “held hostage”!
I still think the best solution would be to either build a new, open, “real” football stadium across the river, just north of the Eads bridge (and let Illinois taxpayers foot the bill), with a great view of the arch and downtown, and direct access to Metrolink, OR convince Maryland Heights’ voters to support building a new stadium next to Verizon Amphitheater, where there’s already a large, little-used (during football season) parking lot. Both locations are in potential floodplans, and a stadium could easily be designed to tolerate occassional floods, unlike many other potential uses.
and let Illinois taxpayers foot the bill
Jim, could you explain the reasoning behind this statement?
Jimmy Z: County Exec Gene McNary proposed building a new stadium for the football Cardinals at the then mostly undeveloped Riverport site back in the mid 1980s. If you recall, the nearly new Riverport Amphitheatre did almost flood in 1993. Several concerts were canceled at the last minute as water started to seep under the levee onto the parking lots.
If you look at satellite images of the 1993 floods (I think there’s one posted somewhere at the Science Center), you’ll see that the Earth City and Riverport complexes were the only constricted points along that stretch of the Missouri River. They did not flood, because of their heavy-duty levees.
I cannot imagine anyone would build an NFL stadium in a floodplain unless it was levee protected. We’re not talking about a recreational softball field — we’re talking about big business. And big business has the political clout to demand big subsidies — including flood protection upgrades if necessary.
If Illinois taxpayers want to vote to tax themselves to fund a new stadium, that’s their choice – I have no interest, as a Missourian, in paying more taxes to build a new stadium here or to fund significant renovations to a realtively-new and perfectly-functional existing facility that isn’t even paid off, yet!
Fair enough.
Could a new stadium fit on the St. Louis Marketplace site?
Having experienced the clusterf— that is Riverport Ampitheater, I am certainly glad that we didn’t build a football stadium out there. I can only imagine how awful the traffic would be when 70,000 fans are trying to leave.
Unlike a baseball stadium or an arena, a pro football stadium is used maybe a dozen times a year, leaving an empty shell 350+ days a year, so the Jones Dome’s multi-usability begins to make some sense, as some sort of economic generator. However, IF a new stadium is deemed to be a necessity, as an urbanist, I would have no problem with it being plopped down in the burbs, surrounded with a sea of asphalt, since that seems to be the model that “works” for both the teams and the fans. The current “solution” is simply empty way more than it’s used, sucking the life out of that part of downtown, so I’m in the camp of just making it go away.
And no, I’m not advocating for the elimination of America’s Center, just the “multi-purpose” dome part. The dome, while offering wide open space, simply doesn’t work well for most exhibits. The lighting is inadequate, the acoustics are weird and the circulation/connection to the rest of the convention center is problematic. If we want to “keep up with the Jones” when it comes to chasing conventions, we need to modernize the meeting facilities, expand the exhibition halls, and significantly improve the circulation and the interconnections inside the complex. And if nothing else, get rid of the decrepit parking structure that’s right in the middle of the complex!
Ironically, an epiphany occured to me during – what else – a football game last fall. I can’t remember what game it was or which station it was on, but a graphic before the game showed a football stadium rising out of a fictional downtown cityscape. I immediately thought to myself “Wait a minute…that’s it! If a developer could somehow make a mixed-use sports stadium that has other office/retail/housing space within the damn stadium itself, then the space wouldn’t be totally useless for 3/4 of the year, like an NFL stadium is.”
Imagine if the Ed Jones Dome and Convention Center could be a part of a massive mixed-use development project in downtown St. Louis with housing, retail and office space within the structure. It would be close to mass-transit options as well as the new I-70 bridge. Now, getting the Rosenblooms and Convention Center owners to go along with it would be a problem and this city doesn’t seem to approve of radical ideas like this, but it could be a way to solve the problem that all outdoor stadiums have: what the hell do you do with them when they’re empty?
Different city (St. Petersburg, FL.), same issue: http://www.tampabay.com/news/article1010344.ece
1. No different than the cold war arms race.
2. What adding a retractable roof to an existing dome would cost (too much).
3. The answers you get when you pay for the study.
4. And the reader comments, at the bottom of the article, are the same as those here and elsewhere in the country – If you love the team/are a “real” fan, no expenditure is too great; if you’re a non-fan or a lukewarm/fair-weather one, then what they have is perfectly adequate and the the taxpayers shouldn’t be expected to pay for the new toy with all the latest goodies . . .
I’ve said it before elsewhere. If a new stadium gets built it should be in the Kosciusko area.
One side of the stadium could be built up against 7th street so people could easily use the Soulard bars. On the other sides could be the huge parking lots that tailgaters love and are generally absent from the Ed Jones Dome.
Although public transportation could be an issue.
These multi millionair sponsers/owners/builders have promised and lied and lied and lied about what they would contriburte after they raped our city for their profits….I for one am sick of them
wrong…nfl is king
wow…do some research before posting this stupid article.Â