In what promises to be a very interesting season in Cardinal baseball, there are a number of concerns facing Cardinal Nation.
In the latest of a series of troubling developments, Centene has backed out of its commitment to build at Ballpark Village. There is no firm plan for construction of the project.
City leaders have been patient with Ballpark Village proponents, but based on the latest news reports, that patience appears to be running out.
While the ownership group commits to building Ballpark Village, opening day is about a week away, and the site continues to be a visual blight on downtown, sitting right next to the new Busch Stadium. To the casual observer, Ballpark Village appears more like a Superfund site than a prime development opportunity.
STL Rising encourages the Cardinals to begin 2008 by doing some spring cleaning at the Ballpark Village site. The current condition of the Ballpark Village site is not consistent with the Cardinals tradition of operating at the highest level of quality, class, and corporate citizenship.
While development projects are often more difficult and complex than expected, with the general public not aware of the many legal, financial, and marketing challenges ongoing, the public is very aware of the physical state of the site.
The Cardinals are seriously hurting the image of their team by failing to maintain the Ballpark Village site in a presentable fashion. Many are calling for the Cardinals to do something now with the site.
The question is, what should be done? What about bringing the site to grade, removing the Ballpark Village Parking Lot", planting sod, and building one or two small diamonds for amateur games?
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8 comments:
In the old days, newspapermen would have taken advantage of this opportunity to produce some entertaining political cartoons.
Picture a drawing of a giant pig frolicking in the Ballpark Village mud pit, with new Busch in the background.
What would the captian say?
Take your choice: "PorkNation" or "St Lou Rising"!
I've got it! How about "Ballpork Village"?
I loved the quote from the Centene failure in the P-D story from the Alderman. "Everybody wants the city to show its best face, and it appears we are going to have a hole there," said Alderman Phyllis Young. "The question is: 'How do you deal with a hole when you want to showcase the city?'"
Ha! She should talk. The Soulard Mardi Gras is nothing but a mass drinkout, complete with public urination, binge drinking and neighborhood trashing. This has been going on for years. Poor timid Phyllis doesn't want to do anything to pull the plug on this disgraceful event because some bar owner, who doesn't even live in the neighborhood, might yell at her. Or her handlers in The Mayor's Office might bend her out of shape. The mudhole is pretty compared to the mess Mardi Gras, the Soulard bars and their trashy customers have created. She doesn't even have the moral authority to suggest that residents pick up trash around their property. Keep up the sanctimonious comments, Phyllis.
How about what was suggested in the SLPost the other day....bring back the Chinese that used to reside in this area before the original stadium was built. These poor people were displaced and moved because fat cats decided they desired a new place to have their team play. Bring them back and they can open up some good take-outs and cleaners and some low cost housing!
Take it easy on Mardi Gras. It's not Young's fault that you hate fun. She probably isn't particularly concerned about your opinion since you're a bit of a whiner and she has 200,000 people who disagree strongly.
As for the hole in the ground, we should build something there. Perhaps a village. A village for the ballpark.
If you sell this thing out and build, "a couple of small diamonds to play amateur games at," you're going to screw the city out of billions in revenue in future years. Ballpark village will only help the economy of the city, and it will help it in a big way. Of course the eyesore that is there right now is ugly, but the benefits of staying the course and building this mixed-use complex will be huge in the future. I think people need to quit whining about it and give the Cards some slack. I live downtown, 4 blocks form Busch and it doesn't bother me. I see opportunity, promise, and potential in that hole. Covering it in and patching the problem is not the most wise use of this ground. Once finished, Ballpark Village will help bring downtown more alive than it's been in the last century!
I love the village where there aren´t a lot delincuence, I prefer the quiet place and with too much vegetation. That is why i was interested in this blog, is really interesting and helpful. Actually i was looking houses because i am really interested, and i found costa rica homes for sale i think is wonderful.
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