UPDATE: Rams statement on proposal
“The St. Louis Rams have worked for many years, with several agencies and commissions, and their senior management, responsible for stadium facilities in St. Louis. This includes multiple discussions with the Governor’s recently formed NFL Task Force. We received the Task Force materials shortly before the press conference. We will review them and speak with the Task Force representatives.”
St. Louis has made its pitch. Today at noon, Bob Blitz and Dave Peacock countered Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s Los Angeles stadium with one of their own.
The task force appointed by Governor Jay Nixon to come up with a way to keep the Rams in St. Louis with a new stadium has proposed a 64,000 seat facility north of the Edward Jones Dome and right on the Mississippi River.
The new waterfront stadium will be an open-air facility that could accommodate soccer as well. The soccer configuration would hold 30,000 people. Peacock had already spoken to MLS Commissioner Don Garber at the time of today’s press conference, who said per Peacock he “would love to see a team in St. Louis.”
After Kroenke’s plans for a privately financed 80,000-seat stadium were announced on Monday, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay repeatedly said St. Louis would not get in a bidding war with Los Angeles or raise taxes to finance a new stadium. Today’s announcement seems to have held to that promise.
The riverfront stadium will cost between an estimated $800 million and $965 million to complete. That includes acquiring the land, of which the city currently only owns a quarter. The task force’s plan does not require and tax increase, relies on half of the money coming from the NFL and the team, and the rest from public funds and receiving over $100 million from personal seat licenses. Here is a breakdown of the estimated budget:
David Hunn on Twitter
David Hunn on Twitter
http://t.co/ouWHKpJ3Jl
If the plan proceeds on schedule, they will break ground in June and the stadium will be ready for games come the 2020 NFL season.
The project leaves the Edward Jones Dome free conventions, and includes the addition of 10,000 parking spaces around the new stadium.
Not everyone was happy with the open-air design. Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins caught the ire of Rams faithful when he criticized the idea of playing outside in the temperatures and wind chills below zero like we have seen this week.
JackRabbit2.0 on Twitter
Stl rams plan to play football next year come late December early January.. #L.AorCloseTheNewRoof
The next benchmark for this ongoing stadium saga is Jan. 28, the deadline Gov. Nixon gave the Rams to decide if they will go to a year-to-year lease at the Dome.
And now to get why you all really came here, the renderings of the Rams’ possible future home…
64,000-seats — 54,020 general seats, 2,000 suite seats 480 loge box seats 7,500 club seat
Aerial view looking southwest toward downtown
Stadium approach from the southeast
Stadium view looking west across Mississippi River
Aerial view of massing model looking southwest
Aerial view looking southeast, configured for football
Aerial view looking southeast, configured for soccer
View looking northwest from the Mississippi River with translucent upper levels
Cross-section of stadium site between I-44 and the Mississippi River
Site plan
Parking plan
(Images courtesy of HOK | 360 Architecture)
5 comments
Great plan – now the hard part: getting the team and the NFL to pay for it.
Aaaaaaannnnnddddd….what happens to this beautiful new almost $1billion building the next time the Mississippi floods? Hmmm??? I’m sure it would be as pretty, shiny, and new when it is underwater.
They are building it 5 ft. above the 93 flood plain level, 500 year high water mark. Sorry for leaving that out.
While that is a good plan in theory, it doesn’t always prevent damage to the facility when the river swells. It’s a beautiful rendition, but I question the wisdom of putting it right on the water.
The river flooding never comes close to the 1993 levels. They said they will work with the Army Corps of Engineers to make it right and safe. Many many stadiums around the world are built next to water. The only one I have ever heard of having problems next to the water was just last year in Peoria…. and they actually played ball during it, they set up a bridge to get to the park.
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