Remember - Only 2 Posts Per Day _________________________________________ I am also always open to a stadium deal. I am not even against public financing, since there is the possibility that the economic development generated can indeed pay for it -- besides, as we have seen with the Civic Center, there is a real need for a civic space and something like a team that helps define the city.
What's all that worth? I really don't know, and even worse I don't trust the numbers put forward by the people arranging the deals. So I tend to lowball the value. I never thought the Xcel Arena would be worth it, but I now think I may have been wrong. Heck, I was wrong -- I admit it. So what's it really worth to the city to have a Baseball stadium? Well, it's only usable half the year if it's outdoor, and most of that time is taken up with baseball games, so it's not usable to the rest of us. I've heard a proposal for a winter sports park, including permanant home to the Winter Carnival, for the rest of the year and that sounds like a great addition of value for little additional expense. I'd say that something less than 50M$ is what it's worth. And I'm much more concerned with the urban design issues than how much we put into it. I realize that a decent stadium can be built for much less than what has been proposed, and if it fits well into the city because it's not so massive I'm likely to go along with it. A 300M$ monster that decimates all the blocks around it for surface parking is not my idea of a good stadium. A 200M$ or less small field that is well designed is something I'd be willing to pony up money for. "God is in the details", as is always true in any civic improvement. I'm not inherently opposed to a stadium, per se, just a monster that doesn't fit into our city. Erik Hare [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.comcast.net/~wabbitoid/ Irvine Park, West End, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, North America, Earth Fine Amish furniture, cedar chests, and crafts http://www.harmonycedar.com _____________________________________________ 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
