A soccer stadium in Richmond Heights?
My business colleague Tim Logan has a story about a proposal to put an MLS-sized soccer stadium in Richmond Heights. Jeff Cooper has distanced himself from the project, saying he’s been apporached about it but he first is looking at Collinsville and Fenton. It is a very, very preliminary proposal though they do have a drawing of it, which I think you have to go our home page or the business page to see.
On a personal note, a stadium in Richmond Heights would be great — I could ride my bike there; on a nice day I could walk – and if you could get it done, you couldn’t ask for a more central location. It sure seems like a longshot to me, though if it got approved and you presented three options to a potential investor - Collinsville, Fenton or Richmond Heights — they’d jump at Richmond Heights. Still, this one to me seems like a pipe dream, but, the more options the better.
I made a much larger comment on the RE&D article you linked to, so I’ll be quick.
This Pichmond Heights plan sounds like a carbon copy of what was originally proposed for Collinsville (which I thought was over the top to begin with, with all the residential, commercial, etc. extra space). This, to me, brings up the image of trying to stuff a basketball into a golf hole.
Better location - HELL YES. ^.^
Cooper turning cold shoulder - disappointing, but totally understandable now, for multiple reasons.
Pipe dream - yes, unless multiple groups start cooperating and an investor comes to help the STL MLS bid.
Cooper can do or say anything he wants, he doesn’t have the moolah.
Someone else has to start something with a big(as in Billion)bucks backer to truly interest MLS.
Dude, just seeing this… flippin’ brilliant! Born and raised in St. Louis (b. 1968), lived in NYC since 1993. I got fed up responding to people on bigsoccer.com and elsewhere, trying to point out that MLS wasn’t coming to St. Louis until someone w/ a bigger name and more money than Jeff Cooper joined in his efforts or, better yet, started their own!
SiberianThunder has it right, until someone w/ greater vision and more money (preferably multiple folk) enters the fray, MLS will always view Cooper’s bid for what it is: a region-specific (So. Illnois, even tho’ he’s bended on that front) bid from an individual w/o a truly community-wide ownership group.