5/26 news

SoccerPrime · 05-26-2005, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jose Luis Luviano

That will come as quite a shock to the Earthquakes.

I emailed Mike Richins(?) the reporter who wrote this to tell him his booboo.
He apologized and promised to fix it. 🙂

SoccerPrime · 05-26-2005, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerick

I saw a map of the proposed Fair Park site in the Tribune this morning and it included a proposed Trax location nearby as well.

If you (or anyone) can scan this picture for me, that would be great.
Thanks!

Rocky J Squirrel · 05-26-2005, 11:12 PM

FairPark = Bad location:

Location is away from what has been sugested as what should be by a Soccer Stadium (not my list, others) and next to a residential area.

Parking is 2 blocks away on the other side of North Temple. That would need a $3,000,000 walkway over the street. A parking garage will be needed but can't be paid for out of worker parking like "Block 22". I would not want to park on the residential streets in that area, nor would the SUV types in the RES parking lot at RSL games. 20,000 people walking through between empty fair buildings is a security nightmare!

Site problems: Ground level is just a few feet above the Jordon River (flooding) with the water table just a few feet under the surface; meaning no dig in (Frisco stadium) and must be built up (zoneing restrictions on height?) spreading noise and light polution on the area. The lake bottom areas have a problem; when the the Big Shaker comes on the Wasatch Fault, soil liquifation will sink anything not built on long deep expensive pilings.

If its got to be Downtown, tear down West High School and build it on that site. Rebuild West on a new site with adequate room and new faclities. Site sugestion: the land for sale just North of the Rose Park Soccer fields, but it might be a viable stadium site also.

clarette · 05-27-2005, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

I emailed Mike Richins(?) the reporter who wrote this to tell him his booboo.
He apologized and promised to fix it. 🙂

They ran a correction in today's Sports Section, FYI. 🙂

RSL Punk · 05-27-2005, 08:50 AM

Quote:

I think that would be a great location, I could walk to games if I wanted

Hey, me too--except it would be kind of a long walk--I live near the "top" of N Temple. But: I would SO look forward to getting in the car and driving two minutes to Grand Real Stadium. Woohoo!

And what's up with "tear down West High?" Someone went to East, methinks. Or South.

Upside: Plenty o' room, close to the soccer megaplex they're going to build, easy access to the interstate (which is my big problem with Sandy, BTW), cheap land.

Downside: Meh. I don't care if the neighbors complain. There are plenty of residencial concerns with RES and I haven't heard anyone complaining yet about the roar every time we score. And with the Gateway going further west everyday, I don't know why anyone wouldn't start their Saturday soccer experience with a little Z'Tejas and a short drive down North Temple.

That's my two cents.

Aerick · 05-27-2005, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

If you (or anyone) can scan this picture for me, that would be great.
Thanks!

I wish I could. The paper was here at work, and it appears to have been tossed already. Sorry man.

HibaIssa · 05-27-2005, 10:03 AM

Ask and ye shall receive.

Newkidontheblock · 05-27-2005, 10:44 AM

Okay, don't quote me on this because I am going off of memory, but is seems like the airport extension was in phase two or three of the long range plan, and that they would not even look at funding until 2012. There are currently three (well four if you include the extension to the hub) phases with a higher priority: West Jordan, West Valley, and a mainline extension into Draper.

Newkidontheblock · 05-27-2005, 05:56 PM

I posted this on BS, so I figured I would post it here too.

I went out to the fairgrounds today to get a closer look at where the site was, and what the atmosphere is like. There are animals there year round, there is a equestrian complex of somekind there (and on a side note, one of the horses was crazy!). The location is in the back of the fairpark, so the security might not be an issue. It is right next to the neiborhood there, litterally on the other side of the street. It seems to have decent access, and decent parking (not perfect, but I think it would do).
The main problem that I have with this location is that it would feel like you are at a stadium at the fairpark. It wouldn't have its own ambiance, and it would feel second rate. Another issue that I have is that it is on the north side of the fairpark, where it is secluded. You would not be able to even see the stadium from North Temple.

To me, this location is devoid of the atmosphere and characteristics a stadium location should have. I want a place that is a destination in and of itself (not a hidden treasure in a ghost town). I want a place that is highly visible, so that people will see it often and have the image in their minds. I want a location that will entice people to come just to be a part of it. Mostly though, I want a first class stadium in a first class area (I really hate the fact that you wouldn't be able to see it from any of the major streets.

This location also doesn't have trax. I know that the paper showed a future Trax line with a stop there, but this is something that is a long ways down the road. It is currently not even on UTA's priority list, which includes Commuter Rail, an extension downtown to the intermodal hub, a Mid-town extension (West Jordan out to Daybreak), a West Valley extension (somewhere along 3500 south to Valley Fair Mall), an extension of the main north south line into Draper, and BRT systems Davis County, Salt Lake County, And Utah County (along University Parkway). Even with agressive funding, UTA doesn't currently have the money for all of these projects, and the time frame for these varies from the earliest being commuter rail (2008) to the Draper extension ~2012. Since the airport project isn't even identified, it would be very difficult to see it get done, even on an accelerated schedule, in the next 7 years. So, mass transit (by this I mean rail transit and not buses) is not a viable option for the foreseable future.

SoccerPrime · 05-28-2005, 05:41 AM

Thanks Hibba for the scan!

Newkidontheblock, your description of the possible RSL stadium at Fairpark is eerily the same description I would give the Crew Stadium. If you noticed, many articles on Fairpark stadium have made references to the Crew Stadium since it too was built on a state fair park. In fact the guy who runs Fairpark used to run the similiar park in Columbus...
And Crew Stadium has no soccer-feel to it at all and there is nothing around it but ghetto and old industrial park-like buildings.

Han Solo once said "I've got a bad feeling about this..."