The only way BV was going to survive is if companies like Centenne were to build there. Specialty shops and restaurants would not survive very long there. Not enough people come downtown on non-ballgame nights. Just pave over BV location and make it a parking lot. Maybe later down the road something could get done.

Here’s the statement just released from Cordish and the Cardinals:

STATEMENT: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS AND THE CORDISH COMPANY

The St. Louis Cardinals and The Cordish Company believe that Centene would have been a great addition to Ballpark Village. We are disappointed that the parties could not come to an agreement, despite months of effort and the best intentions of the City, Centene, and the Ballpark Village team. Ultimately, the many complexities of Centene’s proposed project in Ballpark Village proved insurmountable.

We will now work immediately with the City and State to finalize all public approvals and commence construction of Ballpark Village. The Ballpark Village partnership is in the unique position of having its private financing in place, and we are ready, willing, and able to proceed. Our vision has not changed — Ballpark Village will be a world-class mixed-use project that will positively transform the City of St. Louis.

I find it a great source of Gallows humor when “free market” defenders turn around and blame the loss of businesses on Governments who failed to give the Corporations a large enough “incentive package”. Let’s face facts, if your business model is a non starter unless someone gives you truck loads of money, You Have a Bad Business Model. Don’t ask taxpayers to support your grandiose, unprofitable ego projects. I love the justification too - “You should be paying me for the Privilege of my Presence.”

Please.

All the tax payer money spent to build the Cards a brand new, ultra nice, ultra cool Stadium. The City gets a muddy hole in the ground. The Cards get to show off at the All Star Game, and embarrass the city at the same time. This accomplishes two things - it makes the Cards team more valuable by raising it’s public image, and justifies the Cards leaving St. Louis by lowering the cities image. In the end, the tax payers are left holding the bag – and the city has a gaping hole and an empty stadium.

The Cardinals helped this city when they had owners who actually loved St. Louis, Cardinals, and baseball. Augie Busch….that is where the rich tradition of the Cardinals and the fans come from.

Now you have the Ditwitt’s. They love money and money. They are spending no money on players this year, and I’m sure didn’t want to fork out the cash for the BP Village. It’s these greedy businessmen that are steeling from the middle class. They’re going to suck all the money out of St. Louis and disappear. I hope we can find a way to hold them responsible when that does happen.

I can’t go to a game without dropping over $100 just on myself. Where is all this money going?

What would the beloved Jack Buck be saying about this? Is he looking down and shaking his head in disgust at the lack of leadership that City government has shown here?

What we need to do as a community is provide the incentives and tax revenue to encourage development of Ballpark Village into a world class topless nightclub. This way Cardinal players would not have to risk theirs and our lives in a dangerous drunken commute all the way to Sauget, instead they could just trot a short distance out the clubhouse door to their preferred destination. The tip revenue could be collected and help fund our schools.

Here’s another wonderful idea years behind where it should be and now in jeopardy of becoming a stip mall in the middle of downtown. This is looking more a like a development that we will all look back at 30 years from now and wonder what went wrong and what could have been. Most large cities would love to have a huge piece of land to develop in the middle of their downtown and right next to a new vibrant stadium. This is a golden opportunity to do something spectacular that appears to be slipping away.

By the way, what ever happened to phase 1 being completed in September 2007? I had a feeling all along that this site would never see it’s full potential and that hunch appears to be becoming a reality.

Someone please step up and do something great for the city!

I smell a strip club in our future!

This is another ploy for the Cordish development group to stall. They are spread too thin with the Kansas City Power and Light district. The Cardinals have no intention of ever building a Ballpark Village. This out of town ownership group will sell this team long before anything is ever built on this site. The Mayor and the city of St. Louis set up a deal which would have moved a corporate headquarter to the city. Problem is, Baltimore based Cordish and the Ohio based Cardinals ownership does not have the best interest of the city in mind. People should boycott the Cardinals until we see results.

St.Louis can’t win for loosing. Inept politicians and crooked business owners are trying to further their agendas off the back of what few of us there are left in the city that actually add to the tax base. It’s a shame none of these people ever heard of the Golden Rule. We can only hope they reap what they sow, the city certainly is. I,for one, am taking my 80k income and moving to greener pastures. At least I’ll have more pleasant surroundings and the knowledge that the city is no longer wasting my tax dollars providing breaks for multi-million dollar businesses and corporations that promise but don’t deliver. Obviously there are other urban dwellers doing the same. Wake up City Hall !