Earlier this week, St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke announced that he and an investment group will be privately financing an 80,000-seat stadium... in Los Angeles. Obviously, the news was worrysome to those intent on keeping the Rams in Missouri. On Friday, a St. Louis stadium planning committee announced their first big proposal that they hope will revitalize the downtown area.
"This is about the future ... and that we need to fight for what it rightfully ours," David Peacock, head of the planning committee, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The new facility would be an open-air stadium on the Mississippi River, not far from the Edward Jones Dome (the Rams' current home). Under the new proposal, the unnamed stadium will feature 64,000 seats, with 7,500 club seats. Financing will include private and public money, as well as fan-purchased personal seat licenses.
It won't be cheap: the stadium would cost $860 million to $985 million, according to the report.
From the Dispatch: An estimated $400 million to $450 million would come from the National Football League and the team. An additional $460 million to $535 million would come from public sources, including extending current bonds, brownfield tax credits and up to $130 million in seat licenses.
A new home for the Rams would not only be a good aesthetic fit, but could also be the boost downtown St. Louis needs as it slips further and further down the list of desirable Midwest cities.
"We are talking about a revitalization of our downtown," Peacock said. "Our vision is a redevelopment of the North Riverfront. ... There's green area, there's trailways, there's pathways."
According to the plan, site preparation would begin in June if approved. The stadium would eventually be ready for the 2020 NFL season.
All of this might be too late for St. Louis, as Kroenke, the owner, seems intent on moving to southern California after years of fruitless stadium talks in eastern Missouri.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently announced that no team will be moving before the 2015 season. Under NFL bylaws, the Rams would need to apply for relocation between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15, 2016, and prove the organization "has exhausted all attempts to remain in its current location."
With the advent of this new stadium proposal, that last clause could loom large when the league rules on a potential move.
Check out artist renderings of the new stadium plan below:
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