Cardinal banner on Gateway One building supports keeping the baseball stadium in downtown St. Louis

If the Cardinals Leave Downtown St. Louis,
It's Lights Out for St. Louis
- St. Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall

by Bob Moore, SLFP.com
© 2002 St. Louis Front Page

ST. LOUIS, MO, (SLFP.com), October 8, 2002 - Following a press conference for the unveiling of plans to Celebrate 2004 and showcase the St. Louis region, St. Louis Front Page spoke with St. Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay to get their views on the progress of the new Cardinal stadium project.

"The Cardinals and the City of St. Louis, once they strike whatever deal they are going to strike, are going to have to come out to the county and convince the County Council and me as to whether the county should participate at all," stated St. Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall.

Westfall acknowledged that he has not been a party to the current negotiations and that the Council did not need to be. He emphasized that the public should have some input.

"This is different from what we were talking about a year ago where the city, the state and the county, to some extent, were going to participate from our hotel/motel funds. There is a surplus there and that's the only revenue that I would touch, nothing from general revenue or anything that could be spent on parks, police or hospitals or anything like that."

"The bottom line is that they still have to come out and make their case. It's a brand new deal and therefore, we have to have another look at it. So it's going to have to be a joint decision between the County Council and myself. The Council right now is four Republicans vs three Democrats and of course I'm a Democrat, so it's going to have to be a bi-partisan vote and they have to make their case," stated Westfall.

SLFP.com - Do you think they are working backwards, because it seemed like the initial deal was really a sweet situation with the city standing to gain a lot and gave up nothing. Now, it seems like the city is giving up almost everything in order to maintain a team here.

"Well, Mayor Francis Slay has got to keep the Cardinals here. He's desperate to keep the Cardinals here. He's said publically, "I don't want to be the Mayor on whose watch the Cardinals left town," stated Westfall.

"If the Cardinals leave downtown St. Louis - look I've said it before, the last person out should just turn off the switch. If the Cardinals leave, it's lights out for St. Louis. There's some remarkable gains made under Mayor Slay's administration right now. All of them would be for naught if the Cardinals would leave downtown St. Louis. It would be the deathbell for the city and that's bad for the whole region."

"So I very much want to see a Cardinal Stadium in downtown St. Louis if there is going to be a new stadium. I've always said that the redevelopment aspect of it, the economic revitalization of downtown is the key to me. So they - the owners - have got to come out if they strike a deal. They havn't even struck one yet. The governor has even said that he needs to take a close look at it before he can support it or the legislature. So, they are inching toward a successful negotiation, but they are not there yet," stated Westfall.

SLFP.com - So, for all practical purposes, you want St. Louis to retain the stadium.

Westfall said, "Every elected official in the 2.5 million-people-region met in Mayor Harmon's office two years ago. We all shook hands on a pact then that said our primary goal is to keep the Cardinals in downtown St. Louis. That's where they belong. All the highways go there. Whether from Illinois or Missouri, they all go like the spokes on a wheel. It's essential to the downtown's prosperity and to its very survival."

"If you poll the general public, that is the feeling. Now, whether the public wants to support participation by way of public funds, that's a different story and a case has yet to be made."

"If the Cardinals moved to East St. Louis, they would still maintain the status quo because they would fill up the hotels and restaurants. However, if they move, there's no doubt in my mind that there would be other hotels built in Illinois to accommodate the Cardinal Stadium."

"However, St. Louis might maintain the status quo by way of sale tax revenue from ancillary things like restaurants and hotels, but they would loose all the revenue from the Cardinals themselves. That's very, very significant. And they would loose what most people consider one of the two or three key things in St. Louis. You could talk about Anheuser-Busch, about the Arch and about the St. Louis Cardinals. Those are things historically that have defined St. Louis. If one of them would get up and leave, that would be a disastrous blow not only to downtown St. Louis' ego, but to the city's survival," concluded Westfall.

'Things seem to be progressing very well'
- St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay

SLFP.com - Can you give us an update on the status of the stadium proposal.

"I haven't heard anything negative," said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. "The people that are putting together the Cardinals and the people that are putting together the private part of this - the financing - are working together. They seem to be making progress. So, I'm encouraged by that."

"The bill at the Board of Aldermen is moving forward. I expect that bill will be passed by the Board of Aldermen by October 18th. So, then we will have these various pieces standing still and once that occurs, we can make a pitch to the State and to St. Louis County for assistance in terms of infrastructure on the ballpark."

"What this is about is being able to keep the Cardinals, their 3 million fans, and their tax dollars in St. Louis, in downtown, without raising taxes and without reducing city services. And, it will do it in a way that will not only preserve an existing tax base, but it will be a big boost for our efforts to revitalize downtown," said Mayor Slay.

SLFP.com - How much is the tax base being depleted from the initial plan.

"Well, this is totally different from the original plan," stated the Mayor. "This is going to be privately financed project. The money to build a ballpark is going to be put up by private corporations and the Cardinals."

"It's a much better deal for the taxpayers in a lot of ways. What we anticipate is that the tax base is not going to be depleted at all, it is actually going to be enhanced by the ballpark and a ballpark village which will include residential, commercial, parking, baseball museum and other amenities that will be a total of about a $400 million development project in downtown St. Louis," stated the Mayor.

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