St. Louis unveils plans for new Rams stadium
Article content
ST. LOUISFour days after St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke announced plans to build an NFL stadium in Los Angeles, St. Louis on Friday unveiled a proposal for a new open-air stadium that would cost between $860 million and $985 million.
David Peacock, a former top executive at Anheuser-Busch who is leading the stadium team along with attorney Robert Blitz, told reporters at the presentation, "The Rams are our team. We believe with this kind of plan the Rams will continue to be our team."
Blitz, who was part of the legal team that brought the Rams to St. Louis from Los Angeles in 1995, said, "We will fight for what is rightfully ours."
In reviewing the history of the St. Louis Cardinals moving to Arizona in 1988, Blitz referred to the team's owner as "the reclusive Bill Bidwill." Blitz added, "We don't want history to repeat itself."
City officials previously said they had been unable to reach Kroenke to discuss the plan, although there has been communication with other team executives.
No representatives of the Rams were at the announcement Friday, but the team issued a statement: "The St. Louis Rams have worked for many years with several agencies and commissions and their senior management responsible for stadium facilities in St. Louis. This includes multiple discussions with the Governor's recently formed NFL Task Force. We received the Task Force materials shortly before the press conference. We will review them and speak with the Task Force representatives."
The stadium plan has been in the discussion stages since 2012, when an arbitrator ruled that the Rams would be free to leave the Edward Jones Dome after the 2014 season if the now 20-year-old stadium were not among the top 25 percent of NFL facilities.
The arbitrator ruled the Rams' $700 million renovation proposal would be what was necessary to bring the dome to first-tier status, a requirement at 10-year intervals in the original lease.
In early November, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced that Peacock and Blitz would be reporting back to him within 60 days with a firm proposal "to ensure St. Louis remains an NFL city for years to come." Peacock has been working on the plan for the last year.
Artist renderings were presented for the 64,000-seat stadium a few blocks from the dome and on the riverfront.
The proposed public financing would come from extension of the bonds used to build the dome, as well as selling seat licenses to raise between $120 million and $130 million. Significant to the proposal, said Blitz, is that "we are also committed to the principle made clear by Gov. Nixon that no new tax increases will be used as public funds to support a new stadium project."
Expected private sources would be $200 million from the NFL's G4 program and between $200 million and $250 million from the Rams. The combined $400 million to $450 million is slightly less than half the total cost. The average club and league contributions for new stadiums and renovations over the last 20 years have been around 50 percent.
The project is designed to "eradicate blight and redevelop the North Riverfront, an area that wouldn't be developed in the foreseeable future but for the new stadium project. In addition, the plan includes the financing of material improvements to the dome and America's Center, repositioning it to enhance the region's ability to attract, hold and retain national-quality meetings, events and conventions."
The dome opened during the 1995 season and was constructed as an addition to the convention center.
Kroenke, who took over sole control of the Rams in 2010, announced Monday that he had partnered with Stockbridge Capital Group to finance a $4 billion sports and entertainment complex on the site of the shuttered Hollywood Park racetrack. Included is a stadium that would seat 65,000 fans but could be increased to as much as 80,000 for a Super Bowl or other major events.
The NFL has said no team will move to Los Angeles this year, but the Rams are expected to exercise their option by Jan. 28 to convert their lease to a year-to-year deal.