The toughest talk concerning the CVC’s expected rejection of the St. Louis Rams' $700-million Edward Jones Dome improvement plan is coming from the city of St. Louis.
Jeff Rainford, Mayor Slay’s chief of staff, is known to not pull any punches when it comes to defending his boss. He has been quite vocal in criticizing the Rams for the ambitious ideas to bring the dome up to “first-tier” status.
On several radio programs and in the Post-Dispatch, he has demeaned those who have defended the plan or the thought of spending a dime more than the $124-million proposal offered by the CVC.
But where is the tough talk when it comes to the St. Louis Cardinals? More than a decade has passed, and the valuable acreage to the north of Busch Stadium still sits idle.
There is a softball diamond and parking lot. But that’s it.
The city should have called the Cardinals’ bluff every time the team and developer Cordish Co., reneged on a plan for Ballpark Village.
With each new plan comes a smaller price tag. People were going to live there. Fish were going to live there (in an aquarium that would rival the nation’s best.) There have been promises of hundreds of permanent jobs, restaurants, and up to $600 million in investment.
The latest, introduced on Monday, includes just a $100-million development with a Cardinals Hall of Fame and restaurant. Major parts of the 10-acre site would remain empty.
The Cardinals also have found a way to immediately make money by including seating decks on the three-story complex that peer right into the stadium Of course, you’ll have to buy a ticket.
There will also be “Live Plaza,” which will host small venue concerts and a 40-foot LED screen to show games. I doubt they will show the game going on next door. The Cards would rather you buy a ticket, obviously.
The Cardinals play 81 home games over six months, not including the postseason. The Rams play 10 home games, with two preseason contests. But that number will drop to nine this year because the Rams are playing the New England Patriots in London.
Yes, the Cardinals have a larger economic impact, but that doesn’t mean the franchise should have been allowed to slide all these years when it comes to Ballpark Village.
I can’t remember Rainford—or anyone else in city government—ever ripping the Cardinals for the repeated number of failures to develop Ballpark Village.
In January 2011, the Cards announced the Stifel Financial would build a 14-story office building to anchor Ballpark Village and said that construction could begin by spring. By August, Stifel announced it would stay downtown but would not be relocating to Ballpark Village.
Before that plan sank, Centene announced it would be the anchor. That firm then later chose to remain in Clayton.
Deadlines have now changed and the scope of the project has been reduced with each flop—and the city has basically said nothing. It has also not enforced its power to charge the Cardinals $3 million annually for the team’s failure to create Ballpark village.
The city had the power to force the Cardinals’ hand or make them pay a fine for not developing the site. They did neither.
They have no power or money to throw into the negotiations with the Rams, yet there is a lot of vitriolic rhetoric. I don’t get it.
Commentary by Alvin Reid
