Downtown Stadium a dream?

[devNull]

Originally Posted by Stucki

Do European teams have their practice sites in the same locale as their stadiums? Most American professional teams do not.

I can only speak for Real Madrid. I went to a practice when I was in Madrid (they actually charge you to watch a Real practice) and it wan not held in the Bernabeu. I would presume that other high profile teams have the same situation...stadium and practice facility are separate. It may be different for lower budget and league teams I would guess.

[Peter Hein]

In regard to the question do I favor the Murray site and the comment on Real Madrid.

First Real and many other European teams are a different issue. I come from Hannover, Germany. The cities have been in existence for centuries and the fields and stadiums started in 1865 when FOOTBALL OR FUSSBALL started in England and spread onto the continent. The US is in growing stages and has a lot of space. So here we can do it right.

Regarding the comment on RSL needs to develop a supporter base first before thinking about youth programs. Point**** that is your supporter base of today and tomorrow. More little soccer players beg their folks to let them see a game. I see it in my grand kids and others. RSL needs to take a long term view such as ten to 20 years down the road if Mr. Checketts wants to make this the top club.

Do I favor Murray? First REAL is a business. One needs to pay the players and the staff. They are providing entertainment for us soccer fans. Some of us came here and decided to go to a football game and found that they wear helmets and pads. That is when you learn that the same word can have different meanings in different cultures.

If I had my way, I would sit down with the U and say look we need to widen the field and put on proper turf. This will require to remove the concrete floor and some seats in the stands. Now the college professors say: well we will loose two rows of seats with their contributions and we do not want to do that for our 6 games per year. Well, for the rest of the year it is a waste. Parking is close and plenty, other soccer fields are close enough, and an indoor facility is also available. Trax is close and if they can reach a win-win situation, it is a no brainer. Well Professors are not businessmen and are only one page ahead of their student in the book. Steve Pastorino tells me that RES is not a good business option considering refreshment booths and retail sales.

If I think broad into the future and what I want to make the club in terms of quality and quantity of fans and support then SLC is central, but so is everything else in the Wasatch front, Salt Lake County area. The team is ReAL Salt Lake because Salt Lake has a reputation, but nationally Salt Lake consists of all the little townships around it since it stops at 21st south. Downtown property is high in cost and low in facility for parking, parking access and for use as a SOCCER COMPLEX. FC DAllas has had the right idea. Fairgrounds I need to go out and see and see more of what the plans are. Murray GIVES you 100 acres, has good freeway location, Trax access, extra field capability, etc. With 100 acres I can accomplish something. Sandy is a sleeper since they plan to build High rise parking, which might be interesting to see how they handle the volume of traffic in and out. They have the space similar to Murray and they have Trax access. If I made a business decision this is a consideration. Even Steve P. says well we do not have to have the extra fields close by. He might have been thinking about the WCQ turf they are putting out west for a practive field.

If I think future and the goals Dave Checketts talks about, then.......... I would have to say that Murray becomes a no brainer no matter what the politicians have to blabber about their own best alternatives. Mr Checketts needs to fund much of this. If it were my money and future development plans then Murray is the place. Land saves a bundle, tax payers could be happier and I can create the field of dreams and if I build it they will come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, of to Dallas for the Pizza Hut opener. If I learn something I will let you know. Otherwise I am going into hibernation for a while.

Peter Hein

[prk166]

The idea of having a stadium site with multiple functions (youth fields, office space, training facilities, game stadium) is sexy. And, as we can see, it has been done. The reason it shouldn't be a must is for the same reasons that we don't all live in the same building we work in (or at least right across the street). The needs of each of those different functions are varied. Just as with youth fields, you may value space + low cost more than your commuting time / convience to work. But for the business, cost matters but they also may value being in a central location for doing business with other businesses or to maximize the number of potential employees to draw from. There are reasons beyond tradition that First Security built up a lot of workers downtown + Wells Fargo's kept them down there. The same with the Front Office. Being at the stadium is nice but for their needs a place like Trolley Square works well. If anything, the thing I could see happening is having the FO and training facilites as part fo a soccer park in West Valley City or Draper or Farmington. And the stadium in a location that's central for the valley's population + has some transit options.

[clarette]

Where did you get the idea that the people running the University of Utah athletic department are professors? Chris Hill has a PhD, but he gets paid to run the athletic department as a viable business. Most of his staff conducts essentially business functions, like raising money, providing customer service to ticketholders, selling tickets, etc.

And I would venture to say that he's doing a pretty good job of it.

Professors have enough on their plate with doing research, supervising graduate student committees, teaching anywhere from one to three classes per semester, and serving on university committees. They really don't have time to theorize on the viability of RES as a soccer stadium, since they're so busy being only one step ahead of their students and all. 🙄

[Peter Hein]

When Hill, who does a good job for the U of U, my old school, makes a decision of that great proportion I am sure the Board and the Alumni Association will get involved. Trust me a Univeristy is not like a profit making business and maybe should not be. Fact!!!

[Aerick]

Peter, I like your vision, and see no reason why we shouldn't use that as our highest standard to shoot for. Obviously, we need to keep RSL's business needs in perspective as well, and as long as the ideas make sense from a business perspective, I'm all for them. We should shoot for the stars, and if we need to cut a few things along the journey, then so be it, but we shouldn't lower our goals unless we have to! During negotiations, I'm sure Checkett's, Howe, Pastorino and the gang will propose what they envision - which should be a high standard, and then work their way down to a compromise with the state/city. If what they propose is more "realistic", then the state/city will only negotiate something even less than that, and we certainly don't want that. My two cents.

[Rover]

I would add to my earlier comments (as if they weren't enough!) that the Frisco model has an additional benefit. The City of Frisco is developing the area south of the stadium as its new Town Center (the multiple practice and youth tournament fields are to the north).

The result should be the best of both worlds--a facility that not only serves as the center of FC Dallas soccer, but also supports youth development AND links the club to the life of the city.

RSL cannot and should not simply copy this concept, but we can certainly learn from the Frisco experience. In the end, our stadium must be designed to suit the specific needs of RSL, and those may not be exactly the same as those of FC Dallas.

And then we have the biggest issue--funding. We can only build what we can afford. We can, however, plan a facility that can grow as our success allows, and I hope that's what happens. In the end, we all want a first class facility that becomes the focus of all levels of soccer in Utah and the whole Rocky Mountain region.

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by Peter Hein

Murray GIVES you 100 acres, has good freeway location, Trax access, extra field capability, etc. With 100 acres I can accomplish something.

Just for the record... Murray does NOT give you 100 acres. It is 10 acres just like the Downtown site.
I was at the City Counsel meeting way back then... when they were talking about the site and the breakdown of the parcel of land.
Technically The Murray site is 100 acres but it will include 2 large box stores (Lowes and Super-Target) A HUGE apartment/condo complex and as an after-thought tucked away in the Northeast corner of the 100 acre site, furthest away from freeway and Trax access, will be a stadium.
If you think Murray is the answer to all of your points than you need to think again. It is attractive but not the perfect fit.

Just to add a thought since you want to "think out of the box" (which I don't think using whatever already exists as a guide is what thinking out of the box really means)
But since you insist on comparing what we can do to what already exists then here is what I think about it.
I think in order to have what the Big Peporoni has then you will need to build in South Jordan where the land is cheap, and space is plentiful. The transit Authority is planning a spur line for Trax to go down in to West Jordan... right down to around Jordan Landing... that is pretty close by... and freeway access just a short drive down Bangerter highway... Hmmmm!

I don't propose to have the answers and in the end I will go where ever the team plays.
I for one think that Dave Checketts and all of the very clever people that he employs will come up with a solution that will blow your socks off so I think I will wait and see what they have in mind...

Just my $0.02 worth cos I can never keep my mouth shut when it should be...

[clarette]

Originally Posted by Stucki

Do European teams have their practice sites in the same locale as their stadiums? Most American professional teams do not.

Ajax has a stellar training complex that is close to the ArenA, but it's not directly adjacent. Their facilities are amazing, too... they even have a mini-stadium where we got to see Ajax U-18s vs Feyenoord U-18s, and there's a bar and all kinds of cool stuff.

I haven't been to Arsenal's training facilities, but they are not close to Highbury or the Emirates Stadium. They sometimes use Barnet's ground for reserve matches and other events also.

But there's no way in h-e-double hockey sticks we're going to get anything even remotely approximating what the big European teams have, so there's no point in dreaming.

I'd be happy with a stadium that has TRAX access now (not in like 10 years).

My generation was able to suffer the hardships of playing on regular old middle-school fields, after all. And we didn't even have to pay "coaching fees" and all of that other lameness to do it.

[Peter Hein]

If what Deuce says is correct about the 100 acres not being available for Stadium construction and only 10 acres then based on my premiss it puts Murray out of contention. May be the Jordan Landing idea becomes an option. It is also possible that Sandy may look attractive.

Yes some people may want to go to Salt Lake for the games. However the valley is small enough we can go anywhere within the County. Would we not rather go to a multi use facility and say:" Darn this is beautiful for us, for our kids and for our grand kids!!!" If we leave it to the ploticians we can only quote Ronald Reagan: "the most scary words in the English language are:"I am from the government and I am here to help!!!""

Well, it looks like an older timer like me has sparked some interesting discussion and that was the purpose. I will be off to Dallas to watch one of my grand kids in a major tournament and will try to look at the Frisco site while I am there.

OLE REAL!!!!!