Rams Proposal For Edward Jones Dome Calls For Significant Changes To Structure And Broadway

As promised, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster released the confidential proposal from the St. Louis Rams to the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission (CVC).

To Whom It May Concern:

In compliance with Chapter 610, the Missouri Sunshine Law, Attorney General Chris Koster made the following documents publicly available in response to various media inquiries and Sunshine requests regarding ongoing negotiations between the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission and its lessee.

Respectfully,

CHRIS KOSTER

Attorney General

Their proposal is significantly different than what the CVC had proposed. To me it seems like a new facility given how much would be entirely new.

ABOVE: Plan calls for removing most existing seating and the roof, moving the field 51'-8" to the east

ABOVE: Dome would be expanded across the existing Broadway and Baer Plaza

This means the dome is getting significantly larger than it is currently. The near corner of the drawing above includes access to the casino tunnel. The 2010 image below shows you where that is currently:

ABOVE: Baer Plaza with the Lumiere Link entrance in the foreground

As you can see that’s a lot of new building. Clearly the Rams want more than the lipstick the CVC proposed (see CVC Plan To Improve Dome Improves Broadway).

This brings up several thoughts:

1. Perfect excuse to make 4th & Broadway each two-way rather than the current one-way configurations
2. This would work well with the boulevard replacement of the I-70 elevated lanes, see CitytoRiver.org
3. Unlikely the St, Louis region is going to pony up the money for this.

I haven’t read the proposal in detail yet. You can read the proposal here.

- Steve Patterson

CVC Plan To Improve Dome Improves Broadway

Last Wednesday the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission announced the plan it submitted to the Rams to remake the Edward Jones Dome into a “top tier” facility.  Rather than rush to post about the plan I decided to take my time to revisit Baer Plaza (between the Edward Jones Dome and I-70), read & reread the plan, and offer more than a knee-jerk reaction. I’m not going to rehash the big picture you’ve read elsewhere but I’ll focus on a couple of areas: the point where the Dome and convention center meet and Baer Plaza. Click here to download the 22-page PDF plan.

ABOVE: Existing courtyard space between the convention center (left) and Dome (right), January 2011.

On page 14 of the CVC’s plan they talk about the boring space shown above:

We are proposing the conversion of the courtyard between the convention center and the Dome into a flexible pre-game fan destination for pre-game concerts, food and beverage sales and exciting fan entertainment offerings. This can facilitate earlier ingress into the Dome and reduce congestion created by new NFL Security requirements for wandings or patdowns. It will also generate additional food and beverage sales and create a ‘friends’ gathering place for pre-game activity. 

The courtyard is certainly not an asset in it’s existing condition. The CVC plan includes an image of how they think this courtyard could be revised.

ABOVE: The CVC caption reads: "Create an exciting and highly flexible pregame fan destination in the courtyard between the Convention Center and Edward Jones Dome . Pregame concerts, food and beverage sales, and exciting fan entertainment offerings define the new environment."

Presumably this updated courtyard space could be useful throughout the year as other events are hosted in the convention center and Dome. If so, this could be a good investment in updating a drab area. But it’s outside around Broadway and in Baer Plaza that big changes will take place so lets go there.

ABOVE: Baer Plaza with the Lumiere Link entrance in the foreground, August 2010

From up high this looks nice but both sides of Broadway are dreadful.

ABOVE: Looking south at the sidewalk on the east side of Broadway with Baer Plaza on the left, February 2012

ABOVE: Looking south from Cole you can see the post-9/11 security barricades, February 2012

ABOVE: View of Baer Plaza and the elevated I-70 from the west side of Broadway

The exciting part for me is a new 50,000 square foot multilevel building to be built here as part of an expanded club experience for the well-off football fan:

The new club seats will become part of an exciting contemporary club experience, with the addition of a new 50,000 square foot building referred to herein as the Baer Plaza addition. The suite corridors on the club level will be remodeled with lighting upgrades and finishes to flow nicely into newly remodeled club lounges. The club level renovations will add an ADA platform and expand the club floor plate by filling in the open sections to the floor below. All club level guests will be able to enter the facility through a new club entrance in Baer Plaza. This new building will improve the club experience and enhance the facility as a whole. It will provide a premium entrance for the Rams’ highest dollar customers and will be outfitted with club lounge space, a technology area currently dubbed the ‘Geek Suite’ and an open air deck for a rooftop beer garden. The Geek Suite will be outfitted with Wi-Fi connections and an abundance of HD flat screen monitors and is intended to be a location for the club/suite customers who want to stay connected to Fantasy Football with their handheld Smart devices. This space would be similar to a high-end technology store like an Apple store in fit and finish. The development of Baer Plaza will function as a gateway to the stadium, offering the Rams premium seat fans a new front door experience. The bridge connects to the stadium at the suite and club level(s).

I’m not a fan of bridges over roads but the massing of this new structure is worth a pedestrian bridge over Broadway. This new building, with a “street level restaurant”, will enclose Broadway and give it a needed urban feel that’s been missing since buildings on that side were razed for the open Baer Plaza. The building would also include a team store and rooftop space. Building massing is absolutely needed on the east side of Broadway so this has great potential. Ideally the restaurant and team store would be open all year. Hopefully the rooftop space could be used for other events when the Rams are playing.

Retractable bollards would allow Broadway, a major road into downtown, to be closed on game days. The bollards would be attractive whereas the current concrete barriers are not. It would also close off the disabled drop off area on Broadway. I’ll need to ask how the CVC plans to address that.  This new building would serve as a connector between the CBD to the south and the future “Bottle District” to the north of Cole.

Financing is another issue.

ABOVE: Breakdown of revenues and expenses to reach the $124 million dollar total, click to download PDF

Congrats to Kitty Ratcliffe and her team at the CVC, I’m not easily impressed but I think these improvements (plus interior changes) will greatly improve the game day experience for those attending the games, increase revenues for the Rams,  and improve the area the rest of the year. Remember if the Rams accept this solution, and stay in the Dome until 2025, we must think about what happens after then. The new natural lighting, massive video scoreboard and this building could serve other uses in the Dome after a new facility is built for the Rams for after 2025.

- Steve Patterson

One Less Home Game In St. Louis For The Next Three Years

It’s still unknown if the St. Louis Rams NFL franchise will agree to the final ten years of the existing thirty year lease but we do know they will play one home game each of the next three years in London:

ABOVE: The Edward Jones Dome

The St. Louis Rams took the first step to becoming Britain’s “home” team Friday, agreeing to play a regular-season NFL game in London in each of the next three seasons.

And first up are the New England Patriots, who are two wins from another Super Bowl title.

The Rams and Patriots meet at Wembley on Oct. 28, about two months after the closing ceremony of the London Olympics. That will be followed by games at Wembley against undetermined opponents in 2013 and 2014.

The Rams are owned by Stan Kroenke, who is also the majority shareholder in the English soccer club Arsenal. The team will give up home games in St. Louis for the three seasons they are in London.

“We’ve seen first-hand the increased popularity of the NFL not only in London but throughout Europe,” Kroenke said in a statement. “To play a role in that growth over the next three years will be incredible and is a testament to the many good things happening not only in the NFL but also in the St. Louis Rams organization. (ESPN)

The team only had eight games a year scheduled in St. Louis and now it will be just seven!  So much for the expected revenue. What does the mean about the Rams staying in St. Louis?

In a worst-case lease scenario, the Rams could be free to leave St. Louis following the 2014 season, which also is the year of the last London game. Coincidence? Throw in the fact that Kroenke owns Arsenal soccer club in the English Premier League and owns the stadium they play in. Add to that the fact that the NFL has discussed the possibility of having a franchise based in London. (STLtoday.com)

As the majority shareholder of the Arsenal Football Club (soccer) Stan Kroenke already owns Emirates Stadium (2006) and the NFL wants a London-based franchise. Either the deal is done or Kroenke knows how convince St. louis to build the Rams a shiny new stadium at taxpayer expense.

- Steve Patterson

Readers Think Rams Will Exit Dome Lease

Most of those that participated in the poll last week think the St. Louis Rams NFL team will exit their lease, going to an annual renewal after the 2014 season:

ABOVE: Edward Jones Dome as seen from The Laurel Apartments

Q: The EJ Dome won’t be in the top 25% as required by the lease, will the St. Louis Rams take their out?

1. Yes, they are outta here 49 [40.16%]
2. Yes, even if just as a bargaining chip to get a new stadium in St. Louis 38 [31.15%]
3. No, they will sign and play in the EJ Dome through 2024 22 [18.03%]
4. Unsure/No Opinion 8 [6.56%]
5. Other: 5 [4.1%]

Eighteen percent think the Rams will finish the lease of the dome through 2014. Can I interest any of you in buying the Eads Bridge? The five other answers were:

1. Let’s hope so! No need for football in this town.
2. Who cares
3. los angeles
4. At the end of the day, does it even matter? If they leave, I’ll be fine.
5. I hope so

In response to #2 above — taxpayers should care! City, county & Missouri tax funds helped fund the dome originally and if we aren’t watching the same thing will happen again. On a related note:

On Wednesday [1/4/12], the governor appointed [Jim] Shrewsbury, a fellow Democrat, to the board that oversees the operation of the Edward Jones Dome. (STLtoday.com)

Shrewsbury was President of the Board of Aldermen.

In other Rams news from last week:

St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke has made the franchise’s first resolutions of 2012 by firing head coach Steve Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney after a disappointing 2-14 season that finally came to a conclusion on New Years Day. Monday morning, the Rams made an official release that Spagnuolo and Devaney will not be back with the Rams next season. (KMOX)

I don’t care if the Rams stay or go, but if they go I don’t want to experience what I did when I moved here in 1990 — the attitude that we need an NFL team to be a complete city. We’ve got the Cardinals & Blues — we have enough major sports teams.

- Steve Patterson

Poll: Will the St. Louis Rams Exit Their Lease?

It’s 2012 and looking forward one of the big stories this year will be what happens when the Edward Jones Dome won’t be in the top 25% of all NFL facilities. The lease allows the Rams to exit after the 2014 season if the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission doesn’t keep the facility in the top quarter. It seems universally accepted the dome won’t be in the top quarter and the decision will be made within months. The Rams will be 20 years into a 30 year lease and they will have an out. Will they take the out?

ABOVE: Edward Jones Dome as seen from The Laurel Apartments

Will the Rams go back to Los Angeles to take up residence in a new football facility planned there?

Los Angeles Stadium at Grand Crossing will be the first stadium built specifically for the NFL in California and will reflect the California lifestyle, with an outdoor environment, ample parking, plenty of room to tailgate, expanding the NFL game-day experience and great views for all fans.

Sitting at the crossroads of four counties, the Los Angeles Stadium will provide access to over 15.5 million people, playing host to 75,000 fans each Sunday. (Source: losangelesfootballstadium.com)

What kind of city would build a football stadium without a team? Oh right, we did that hoping to win an expansion team. The Rams will have the option to become an annual tenant rather than getting locked in for another decade. Frankly, they’d be foolish to agree to another decade.

As an annual tenant they could stay until the new LA stadium is finished. But the Rams isn’t the only team LA might try to lure:

The three teams which used to play in Los Angeles but moved elsewhere (the San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders) have all been rumored to be open to moving back. The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings, have also been identified by [stadium developer] Roski and others as possible prime tenants of the new stadium. However, the city of Santa Clara, California has since approved a ballot measure that will allow the 49ers to build a new stadium in Santa Clara, and the Raiders could be allowed to occupy that stadium as well. (Wikipedia)

This is the topic for the poll (right sidebar) this week. Happy New Year!’

- Steve Patterson

Readers want NFL football games played in same location

In 2025 the 30-year lease of the Edwards Jones Dome to the St. Louis Rams will expire.  Last week’s poll was a revision of a poll a few weeks earlier.   This time around I get a better sense of what you, the reader, expect. The biggest number want football to stay in the same spot, here are the results:

Q: Forget funding, where would you place a new stadium for the Rams?

1. Rebuild/build in current location 44 [ 23%]
2. East bank of the Mississippi River (IL) 41 [22%]
3. Old Nooter Co site just South of Chouteau 24 [12%]
4. downtown St. Louis (River/Cole/Tucker/Chouteau) 18 [9%]
5. Just adjacent to downtown 14 [7%]
6. As long as it is open air or has a retractable roof I don’t care. 12 [6%]
7. elsewhere in City of St. Louis 7 [3%]
8. Unsure/don’t care 7 [3%]
9. Metro East (IL) 6 [3%]
10. Other answer… 6 [3%]
11. St. Louis County 3 [1%]
12. anywhere in the region is OK 2 [1%]
13. St. Charles County 1 [0%]
14. Jefferson County 0 [0%]

Besides the same location, a few adjacent locations also ranked high. In this post I want to focus on the existing location, shown in green below.

Along Cole Street the Edward Jones Dome and convention center is a four block long wall (Broadway/5th to 9th).  A four block wall.  So here are my thoughts about rebuilding a football stadium on the existing site.  The first thing that needs to happen is 7th Street needs to continue through (blue above) rather than be cut off.  I’d like to see the new facility be open air.  Not a retractable roof, but no roof.  Such a facility would be less intrusive in the urban context.

ABOVE: Looking South at 7th from Cole

Seventh Street was a through street before the dome was added onto the convention center so it can be removed. The back of the 1977 convention center will continue to be an ugly edge to Cole St. – two blocks of loading docks.  Allowing pedestrians and traffic to go through 7th Street will help connect our central business district to the areas to the North of Cole.

- Steve Patterson

Football stadium poll #2

Above: Edward Jones Dome

The post/poll two weeks ago asked where you thought the next facility for the St. Louis Rams NFL franchise should be located.  After the poll was finished it was clear to me I needed some different answers to better gauge reader sentiment.  So in a first here, I am repeating a previous poll topic with a revised question and answers.

For the purposes of this poll assume the St. Louis Rams pay 100% of the costs to build a new facility.  Most likely they will be bound to the Edward Jones Dome through 2025

- Steve Patterson

Readers want to keep the Rams playing downtown

ABOVE: Edward Jones Dome

The poll last week asked about where to put a new football stadium and most readers feel a new facility should be downtown:

Q: A future facility for the STL Rams (NFL) should be located in:

1. downtown St. Louis: 72 [32.3%]
2. City of St. Louis (outside of downtown): 39 [17.5%]
3. As long as it is open air or has a retractable roof I don’t care: 29 [13%]
4. Metro East (Illinois): 27 [12.1%]
5. St. Louis County: 19 [8.5%]
6. Other answer… 17 [7.6%]
7. Unsure/don’t care: 10 [4.5%]
8. anywhere in the region is OK: 6 [2.7%]
9. Jefferson County: 3 [1.3%]
10. St. Charles County: 1 [0.4%]

From the comments on the original post I realize I should have had different choices.  “Metro East” is too vast.  One answer should have been the East side of the river with elsewhere on the East side another.  Also I should have defined “downtown” and provided a downtown-adjacent answer.   The other answers were numerous and I’ve divided them into two groups:

The first group is a mix of answers:

• Somewhere in the City, open air / retractable roof
• north city
• Franklin County
• Los Angeles
• Mars
• privately funded…like the patriots

The question was about where, not how funded.  The second group all had a common theme:

• keep refurbishing the current facility
• They should use the same facility they have now. It’s the “green” thing to do.
• Don’t move.
• exactly where it already is

So we have the keep it in place view.  I believe somehow we will get past the 2015 deadline. Either the team waives the requirement to stay in the top 25% or the CVC finds the money to upgrade the facility.  But come 2025 the lease expires.  At this point the facility will be over 30 years old.  Some say rip off the roof of the current dome.  I asked some local architects about the feasibility of reworking the dome in such a way to give it another 20-30 years of life.  The responses were mixed from it can be done to it wouldn’t work.

Razing the then 30 year old dome and building new is the only viable option on the current site, in my view.  When the new Busch Stadium was built they were able to build much of the new facility next door while the team continued to use the old stadium.

But there is no next door spot available.  The window between games is nine months — not enough to raze and build a new facility on the site.  One option might be for the Rams to play home games for one season at another facility such as the University of Missouri in Columbia.  What about other locations downtown?

A facility easily consumes four city blocks.  Additional acres are needed for parking and other game day activities.  Such a facility just doesn’t fit into a Central Business District based on the enormous size.  Doesn’t matter, no site big enough is currently available.  Will a site be available by 2025?  I hope not!  I would not wish for such a hole to open up.

The site closest to downtown I can think of is the old Nooter site at 2nd & Rutger.  Development of this site may happen over the next 10 years so even it may not be available in the future. The long vacant Pruitt-Igoe site will be developed if Paul McKee’s NorthSide project works.  The potential sites are few. Rebuilding on the current site requires the team to play elsewhere for a season.  Even if the team funds a new facility without taxpayer assistance the options in the core are very limited.

- Steve Patterson

Next deadline on Edward Jones Dome quickly approaching

ABOVE: Edward Jones Dome

Last week the agreement to sell the St. Louis Rams to Urbana, IL businessman Shahid Khan was announced in the news:

“The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the team’s owners, Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez, have agreed to sell the team to Illinois businessman Shahid Khan.” (USAToday)

Any sale must be approved by the NFL.  If the sale goes through it would very likely mean the Rams would not be leaving the St. Louis area.  But sale or not, the requirements of the lease remain in place:

“The next scheduled deadline for first-tier status is March 1, 2015. But the process that could lead to the Rams getting out of the lease and potentially relocating starts much sooner – in just 2 1/2 years.

On or before Feb. 1, 2012, the CVC must deliver a preliminary plan for first-tier improvements. The overall plan must include a financial plan, as well as the source of those funds.

The Rams then have until March 1, 2012, to notify the CVC if they approve or disapprove of those plans.

At that point, the Rams have until May 1, 2012, to submit an alternate plan, with the CVC then given until June 1, 2012, to accept or reject the Rams’ alternate plan.

If the CVC rejects the Rams’ alternate plan, the matter goes to arbitration on June 15, 2012. The arbitration must be completed by the end of 2012.

If no agreement is reached, the stadium lease would then convert to a year-to-year lease, with the Rams free to move after the 2014 season.”  (Source: ballparks.com)

So the CVC now has less than two years to put together a plan to satisfy the requirement that the dome be among the top 25% in the NFL.  We don’t yet know how much money is required, or where it would come from.  I’m sure the CVC folks are already sweating bullets thinking about it.  If the CVC meets the lease requirements then the Rams will be obligated through 2024.  At that point the dome will be more than 30 years old and the lease will terminate.

Assuming we get past this next deadline, I think we will hear talk around 2018-2020 about a new facility.  The poll this week asks where you think a new facility should be located.  I think any future facility should not be located downtown.  Baseball works well in an urban context — there are many more home games, the required facility is smaller, and baseball stadiums are more visually open. Football stadiums belong outside of an walkable urban context: suburbia basically.

By 2012 we may be asked to fund improvements to the Edward Jones Dome. If we are going to come up with additional money I want that money to go for a new facility outside of downtown. Put it next to MetroLink in Illinois or on the site of the former Chrysler plant on I-44.

- Steve Patterson

Limbaugh Dropped From Rams Bid

Last week Rush Limbaugh was dropped the group seeking to take over the St. Louis Rams.  Opposition was mounting locally, nationally and even within the NFL.  Here is the poll question, answers and the final tally:

Q: Rush Limbaugh & Dave Checketts have bid on the St. Louis Rams. Reaction?

• I don’t like Limbaugh and this would make it easier to stay away from the Rams: 77 (30%)
• I don’t care who owns the team as long as it remains in St. Louis: 63 (24%)
• I don’t like Limbaugh, used to support the Rams, but will stop if he becomes an owner: 39 (15%)
• I don’t like Limbaugh but I would continue supporting the Rams: 32 (12%)
• I like Limbaugh and the Rams, great match: 19 (7%)
• I don’t have an opinion on Limbaugh buying the Rams: 15 (6%)
• I like Limbaugh but not the Rams/football: 8 (3%)
• I like Limbaugh so I might start supporting the Rams: 6 (2%)

What we can take away from these results is most of the readers here are Rams fans, or at least want them to stay in St. Louis. 134 of the 259 votes (52%) showed a positive view toward the Rams/NFL.  Conversely, nearly as many are not really interested in the Rams/NFL.  More of those voting dislike Limbaugh than those that do like him.  With Limbaugh out of the picture the focus shifts back to the region’s willingness to pay up to keep the Edwards Jones Dome among the NFL’s best:

The Rams lease agreement with the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission (CVC) requires the Edward Jones Dome rank among the top eight stadiums in the 32-team NFL on the Dome’s 20th birthday in 2015. If first-tier status is not met, the Rams lease would switch to year-to-year terms a decade ahead of schedule and the team would have the option to leave St. Louis.  (Source: St. Louis Business Journal, 5/16/08, Edward Jones Dome challenged to measure up)

Renovations to the dome will likely cost more in the coming years than the dome cost to build.  Estimates are in the hundreds of millions.  The hotel room tax doesn’t collect enough to fund the renovations that will be needed.  2015 will be here soon. Can we assume that if Dave Checketts and his partners are successful in buying a controlling interest in the Rams that they wouldn’t move the team out of the region?  Maybe.  Expect to hear much more about this over the next 5-6 years.

The best part is we won’t be hearing from Rush Limbaugh as a team owner.

– Steve Patterson