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Saint Louis News - "All the news that is Saint Louis"
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  'Rib America' Festival at Soldier's MemorialTourism Season Has Dramatic
Impact on St. Louis Area EconomyReuters to Provide SAVVIS With
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by Betty Magrath, SLFP.com ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), June 19, 2001 - One of the largest economic developments in the history of St. Louis is closer to becoming a reality. Today, at St. Louis City Hall, Governor Bob Holden joined St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, St. Louis County Executive George R. "Buzz" Westfall, St. Louis Congressman Dick Gephardt and other city officials to announce an agreement with the St. Louis Baseball Cardinals to jointly fund a $646 million development downtown. The project includes a new 49,000 seat publically-owned ballpark; world-class aquarium; and a baseball museum. The agreement calls for the ballpark to be completed in time for the start of the 2005 baseball season. A Ballpark Village would include offices, residences and parking. The new stadium would replace the aging stadium built in the mid-sixties. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay emphasized that the city's portion would come only from new revenue generated by the stadium. "I signed the document because it will keep the Cardinals in the City of St. Louis and downtown," said Mayor Slay. "Also, I signed the document because the new development will generated hundreds of dollars in new tax revenue for the City of St. Louis and the County of St. Louis." He pointed out that the City could expect to see $1 billion in economic dollars every year.
According to the agreement, the Cardinals and private developers will be responsible for $435 million of the project cost. The City will be responsible for not more than $60 million and will meet its share from the revenue generated by the stadium. Slay noted that the investment would be backed up by a fund created from the naming rights. St. Louis County will be responsible for $140 million of the construction cost. The Cardinal ownership would all pay all cost overruns of the construction. "It builds upon the Cardinals as one of the City's greatest assets. The team's owners have agreed that the City would share in the profits if the team were sold," emphasized Slay. The agreement states that the Cardinals will cap prices on at least 6,000 tickets per game to be priced at no more than $12.00. The Cardinals will donate at least 100,000 tickets per season to youth and charitable organizations throughout the state. St. Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall noted that he has heard a lot of plans over the past decade. "I believe firmly in a vibrant downtown. I see this as the possibility of being the big bang for the City of St. Louis. It could actually be the salvation of the City of St. Louis," concluded Westfall. Missouri Governor Bob Holden stated that he drove a hard bargain with the Cardinals to reach this agreement. "I am pleased to say that the deal we are announcing today meets my standards to achieve a fiscally responsible agreement for Missouri taxpayers. I believe that Missouri has definitely hit a home run today, resulting in the best deal in baseball," he said. The Governor also emphasized that no existing state revenues would be used to fund the project. "No new taxes will be raised to fund this project. And the Cardinals have stepped up to the plate to fund a large share of the project. And I can whole-heartedly stand behind the terms of this agreement." The Governor acknowledged it was not just about building a stadium. "It was about creating new development opportunities and achieving economic revitalization in downtown St. Louis. Many long, hard hours have been put in by state, county, and city officials, along with officials of the Cardinals baseball organization to make this day a reality." The Governor went on to say that "the development of the Ballpark Village provides a unique opportunity to do both - address the needs of the Cardinals through a new stadium, and begin to address the needs of the city of St. Louis by guaranteeing the redevelopment and revitalization of the downtown area."
"As reflected in the agreement, I will not use existing state revenues to fund this project. I share the citizens' desire that the state act responsibly with their tax dollars," emphasized Holden. "That is why the state funding of the new Cardinals stadium is based on the growth of new tax revenues generated by the stadium and the Ballpark Village. So the agreement will in reality not cost our state taxpayers a dime," said Holden. "In other words, the state will be receiving more money than it is paying out over the life of this project. That's what I call driving a hard bargain and getting a good deal for Missouri taxpayers. And in the meantime, the state will continue to collect the tax revenue that is currently being generated by the activity at Busch Stadium," he said. Holden pointed out that current estimates indicate the state will receive nine million dollars in new revenue every year from the new Cardinals stadium alone without any other redevelopment activities. He added that the state would be reimbursed by the Cardinals from revenue set aside from the sale of naming rights and the marketing and advertising revenues associated with the naming rights. And no state revenues generated for education, conservation or natural resources will be used to fund the stadium. "None of us wanted to lose the St. Louis Cardinals," said Holden. Such a loss would have been detrimental to the St. Louis area and our entire state economy as well. The state revenue that is generated from the existing stadium and all those tourism dollars that come from St. Louis restaurants, hotels, and attractions while people are here for a ball game pay for a significant number of services all Missourians enjoy. "And finally, my third and last major requirement for this agreement was that the Cardinals would shoulder the responsibility for a substantially larger part of this new investment. As a result, the Cardinals have increased the amounts they are willing to invest in this project and have accepted the responsibility for developing and finding funding for the Ballpark Village - thus placing more of the responsibility for the new stadium and redevelopment funding on the Cardinals," said the Governor. "With today's announcement, all of us are winners - the city of St. Louis, the St. Louis region, and the citizens of the state of Missouri," summarized the Governor. Major League baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who was accompanied to the announcement by Congressman Gephardt, also pledged that the 2006 All-Star Game would be played in St. Louis at the still-unnamed ballpark. The All-Star game, which is expected to generate $100 million in economic impact for the region, was last played in St. Louis more than 30 years ago.  See Related Story It Takes a Village to Build a Stadium ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), June 19, 2001 - The proposed Ballpark Village is the key to the proposed development, according to St. Louis County Executive George R. "Buzz" Westfall. St. Louis News
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View of proposed Cardinal Baseball stadium as seen from Spruce Street - courtesy of St. Louis Cardinals.
