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January 22, 2009
The Stadium controversy as a national bellweather
River Ave. Blues
This item discusses the issue of publicly financing stadiums in a time of financial difficulty. Not surprisingly, the proposed Atlantic Yards project gets a mention.
As New York, the center of the known universe, prepares to open two baseball stadiums in a few months, urban policy gurus and baseball economists have put the city and its stadium financing deals under a microscope. Meanwhile, with the U.S. economy in a deep recession, the national construction boom has all but ground to a halt.
Enter Maury Brown and The Biz of Baseball. In a multi-part series on Brown’s site, Pete Toms has explored the issues surrounding stadium construction and financing. Part I explored how stadium construction plans are couched in terms of mixed-use development. Part II examined how the current state of the U.S. economy has left the new Busch Stadium an island in an uncompleted and unfunded ballpark village. Yesterday, Part III hit the Internet.
In it, Toms looks at the impact the recession will have on stadium financing. Toms predicts that of the three major sports teams awaiting approval for stadium financing and construction — Nets, Marlins, A’s — at least one of those teams will never get its new home and the others may have to wait a while. With the Atlantic Yards plan in shambles, the Nets fit the bill, but I don’t think the Marlins and A’s will be enjoying new digs anytime soon.
Posted by steve at January 22, 2009 6:32 AM