Remember - Only 2 Posts Per Day _________________________________________ > I agree wholeheartedly with Pat. I think we have > voted on this as a community and the outcome last > time was well over 80% of the folks that voted (I > think) said NO to public funding. Pat and many of > the rest of us have it right!
the vote was 58% against, 42% for a half pct increase in the city sales tax. how does this translate to 80%? > > This is preposterous. These teams need to get their > labor issues under control, or perhaps they should > have some of their players "invest" in the stadium. > Until they realize that they cannot continue to pay > out multi million dollar contracts to these folks > continually and still have the revenue to pay for a > state of the art facility, then maybe there will be > something to talk about. there are many owners that do realize this which is why hawkins, AJ, every day eddie and probably jaque jones are no longer with the team. it is why the twins didn't draft pryor a couple of years ago. The florida marlins are in the same staduim situation the twins are in and they are returning a fraction of the team that won the world series last year. The owner in texas is trying to dump ARod and his over the top salary because he realizes now it isn't working. > > And YES, you do need to think long and hard about > where the money is coming from. Correct me if I am > wrong, but I understood the "Wild" deal to include a > clause that the team could walk away during the > first five years of the contract and leave the city > and the state holding the bag. Please someone tell > me this isn't so. rest easy, the hockey team isn't going anywhere. Remeber, the hockey team added $30 to $40 million in private funding towards the end of construction for improvements over the original design. The public funding held at $130 million. The team has annual rent payments of $3.5 million to help the city and state recoup funds. The team is also on the hook for payments in lieu of property taxes that grow from $2.5 million to $6.5 million over the 25 year lease. to respond to charlie on stadiums improving the area around them: camden yards spurred development along the inner harbor in baltimore. I think some opponent of stadium construction said this was going to happen anyway but I thought that was just convenient to his argument. Maybe it didn't directly cause other development but I believe it was the first step in the plan. I have been there after it was built but not before. From what I heard there was absolutely nothing in that area before it was built. I've been to coors field and it looks around there the have seen the same effects the arena has provided or the target center. the others I have been to have been around for years and most were built out in the middle of nowhere (kaufmann stadium in kansas city) or in a hole surrounded by interstates (miller park), on top of an existing structure (united center), been there forever (wrigley field). in reply to Tim's comments: If a stadium is built and is built in St. Paul I think it could, and should, be built in a way to be non-invasive. If the playing surface is built below grade, along with the entire lower bowl, all that needs to be built up is the upper bowl and lights. This will reduce the profile significantly. It might not be enough to please all or any but it doesn't need to be a hulking behemoth that miller park is. I want a new stadium built but if it is going to look like miller park, i might change my mind. We can do better than that. as for location, I like the old gilette building site but understand that may not a good idea for those living there and what is currently going on in that area. If it can fit near the arena then that would concentrate those types of entertainment facilities in one area. I'm sorry I don't remember who, I think Bob, but someone said people couldn't get home when and event lets out at the arena. Why exactly is that? the only road that I know they close is kellogg in from 7th to washington I think. I always thought they should shut down 5th street instead. John Harris webber-camden __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
