Downtown Stadium a dream?

[Lucky13]

Originally Posted by Jose Luis Luviano

Due to Neil's "This is not Bigsoccer" rule, this post is a lot shorter than I had planned to make it.
Fairgrounds area safer than people think.

I haven't the slightest concern about safety at the Fairpark. I've been there many times for concerts. My concern is that it's hidden away. We need a stadium that people see everyday. One that's inviting. A place where shoppers or diners as well as commuters will be reminded that they need to get out to see a game (or 16).
Sorry I wasn't clearer before.

[dysko]

Originally Posted by Stucki

I saw that article. There are many places in the valley that have myths surrounding them about safety. I live in one of them.

I have been to your house (even if only to drop you off)... it isn't safe... way to many DJ Countess fans. It can't possibly be safe there!

But, of course all the Thugs leave you alone because they loved having you as their teacher...

The thing that is funny about this... I could have told you that Stuki live in a safer place than SugarHouse. I lived in Sugarhouse and below 1300 East there is tons of crime.

[taytay33]

Exactly, just cause it's on the "East side" or "West side" has nothing to do with it's safety. Our neighborhood is perfectly safe, yet some areas downtown that are East side are really bad.

[SoccerPrime]

"Lawmakers like a fair-soccer mix"
Rocky relationship: Lawmakers who tour possible stadium sites may vote to approve location the Salt Lake City mayor approves of Fairpark tour: Many favor the idea of the Major League Soccer stadium on the west-side venue, but Real Salt Lake will decide.

http://www.sltrib.com/realsaltlake/ci_2878283

[SoccerPrime]

OT
Rochester fan posts pictures of their own Soccer Stadium.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v704/dominionroc/?start=0

[the cup]

Love it baby, love it.

[Peter Hein]

I have read with interest all the posts about the Real Soccer Specific Stadium. However, I feel some comments are in order.

First let me introduce myself. I and two other men started UYSA in 1979. We always hoped that soccer would make progress, but never expected Salt Lake to have a pro franchise and a WC Qualifier.

Now to the point. It appears that many posts are not thinking outside of the box. You expect a stadium with a soccer size field and nice seats to sit on.

I just watched the MLS vs Fulham game and saw the Columbus stadium. Nice but it appears that it was created with limitted thinking. I will be at the FC Dallas opener at the Frisco stadium.

Since we are a community which has the highest per capita youth soccer participation in the country and great attendance at games with a team in growing pains, we have the potential of tremendous growth. Do we want more WCQ or European/ South American guest teams? I know that a German team will be hear next year. So what is required for a stadium.

It must have growth capability which can either be vertical by putting a second level over the first level of seats as in many European stadiums, or it must grow horizontally, which means width. If we go wide, do we take more streets away from Salt Lake City? Do we use underpasses? See we start with 25-30,000 seats in the beginning. That is not large enough for WCQs. The population is expected to expand from 2.2 million to 3.7 million. If that brings 15000 more fans, then 25 or 30000 is not large enough.

Parking becomes the second problem if the stadium gets larger in capacity. Already the Salt Lake option has a problem. Yes, TRAX access is important and whatever the venue it is a must. Access from the freeway must be quick and simple. Get off the freeway and into the parking lot easily and the reverse must also be true.

What Real needs is a soccer complex not just a stadium. A complex which allows 10 or 12 fields for practice and interstate tournaments. Teams form Boise, Pocatello, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas will want to come here with the final played inside the big stadium. Dressing rooms, refreshments, restrooms, restaurants must all be immediately available. REAL Office space, Team accommedations for visiting teams to include restaurant, Welcome rooms for social events and hospitality suites, living accomodations, etc. Media Access and setup areas, Sports retail facilities, etc, etc, etc.

Covered seating to keep the sun out of the eyes of the people now on the east side at Rice Eccles. However it must be built so it can easily enlarge into a second level which then also gets a roof to keep us out of the rain in Spring and Fall.

I have seen the development of the Dallas complex in Frisco. It is not in the middle of Dallas but on the northern side adjacent to Allen, Plano and Richardsen and other smaller towns. Major stadiums have been built in Europe which are not necessarily in the middle of town. It will be the quality of the facility and the multiple usability of the complex which will bring the fans and the major soccer powers and national teams.

Real needs to develop a soccer academy for youth skill development. Yes one can send scouts to Europe and South America, but we know that the talent will be taken there and the money is there to pay for it. What we will get is the leftovers. Well, if you think of us as a minor soccer power that is probably alright. If you want to build the best soccer club and community in the country then youth development is a must, not using coaches who have been begged into coahcing their children's teams, but who know and can teach the skills, tactics and strategies of the game to the 6-12 year olds for basics and then the finer point of the game to older kids, who will come to love the beautiful game so much they will eat, live and breath it.

With all that said you may discuss this amongst yourselves all you want. Don't just build a box, but build a complete facility. Polititians will think of Stadiums the way they knew it in the past. Folks the past is gone, the future is the beautiful game. What do you think will happen here if the US makes it to the quarter finals next here? I will be there and will see what develops.

In the next few days while I am in Dallas inspecting their facility, I will check this thread and see what Utah fans can come up with.

Sincerely,

Peter Hein

[clarette]

Peter, from what you're describing, I would assume that you're advocating the Murray site?

I'm not sure about the numbers, but I doubt any of the other proposed sites have space for that kind of thing.

Just out of curiosity, do you see the soccer complex on the north side of SLC as part of those plans?

[Rover]

Thanks for adding to the discussion with some well-made points.

I would respond by saying that there are several directions RSL can go with the stadium project, and you have detailed one of them.

Going in, we have to remember that all the new MLS stadiums are designed to be multi-use, which typically means for soccer primarily but also for concerts. That's where the money is made, so planners will look at those events as the focus of the facility's design.

That said, we have (at a minimum) four current examples of the direction we can take:

1. HDC. The HDC is located on the edge of a university campus in a suburban area of LA County. It is surrounded by a group of practice fields, but also by a large tennis stadium, a track stadium, and other sports facilities. It is designed as a sports and entertainment facility, and is in the mix for the many concerts that move though LA each year.

2. Pizza Hut Park. You have already described this facility, which is designed for FCD soccer, high school football, and concerts, but also has close to 20 additional fields surrounding it. It is the first true soccer stadium/youth soccer complex in the country. It is in a suburb/exurb of Dallas, surrounded by farms and open land that is rapidly developing into a medium sized city. Colorado's Prairie Gateway looks to be much the same as PHP.

3. Crew Stadium. Built for soccer and concert events, it is located on a fairgrounds site with little room to expand. It was built in less than a year and is functional but not much more.

4. Bridgeview. The first of the new stadiums to be built in a more urban setting, it is designed to blend into the neighborhood and support soccer and concerts. To my knowlege, there will be no adjacent fields or additional soccer complex. The idea is to incorporate the Fire into the city much like Wrigley Field does with the Cubs, right down to the architecture. Most of the new baseball parks have used this concept, starting with Camden Yards and now including Petco Park in San Diego.

So what does this mean? We have choices, and what we choose will be dictated not just by what we can afford and where we can find land, but what we intend to accomplish with the stadium.

Although I share your interest in providing for youth development, the PHP option is not the only way to accomplish that. You are also right that any stadium must be designed with future expansion in mind, but remember too that capacity must be sensitive to the market and the need for RSL to create ticket demand. And although a 25,000 seat stadium would not be eligible for a World Cup game (I believe they have to be over 40K), it would not mean we couldn't host a qualifier, as Crew Stadium (22K) will do in September.

I do believe RSL must clearly define and articlulate the purpose of their stadium, beyond the obvious as a home for MLS games. That's their call, of course, and they will have to choose a model such one as the four listed above or maybe come up with something new. But in the end their choice will be made primarily in terms of how it best supports RSL and the club's development as a professional team. Other considerations will likely come into play, but in the end the focus must be on RSL.

[Stucki]

While it would be nice to have the stadium, team offices, and practice facilities all at one site, it won't be completely necessary to do things that way. The valley already hosts large youth tournaments where teams come in from many of those places to play, would more come for the chance of playing a final in a MLS stadium, perhaps. However, I'm not sure that RSL needs to take that into account when planning where to put the stadium. At this point, I think they need to worry more about potential fans than youth leagues. Once the stadium is in place, youth championship games can be played there, whether or not it is part of a larger complex. The team is going to need to develop a practice site regardless of where the stadium is, and I don't think it would be the end of the world for them to be on two different sites.

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