COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The Columbus Foundation has a new plan to save the Crew: it’s floating out a proposal to build a stadium in downtown Columbus.
Spirit of Columbus Park is the name of the proposed stadium that would be built between 5th and 6th streets, east of the Arena District.
From facilities to funding, a 14-page proposal covers it all. But the writer, Columbus Foundation president and CEO Doug Kridler, admits it might not work.
Right now, only semi-trailers fill the lots between Abbott-Ross Labs and BalletMet in downtown Columbus. Kridler has a vision for something much bigger in the space.
“All of our downtown sporting facilities would be lined up in one road-sharing infrastructure of restaurants, bars, parking,” he said.
Including in Kridler’s proposal is a new 21,000-seat soccer arena, parking garage and 350-seat children’s theater.
“We’ve done the measurements; you can fit the stadium and a children’s cultural facility,” he said.
He said the dream is possible with a massive collaboration between the city, county, state, private sector and citizens, noting that “there can’t be just one sort of silver bullet of funding for this.”
Kridler said saving the Crew is about more than just soccer: “I believe that this is about a civic asset, not just a sporting asset. Another element of our calling card to companies that might look to relocate here, talent that we want to retain here.”
He said the idea hasn’t been vetted and admits much of the proposal could fail. He just wants to start a conversation.
“We wake up with the belief that we can make good things happen and this is my invitation to people to join the effort to do that,” he said.
The funding proposal includes no new taxes but allocates half of the Franklin County quarter-cent sales tax going towards the project.Click here to view The Columbus Foundation proposal.
Kridler released the following statement alongside the 14-page proposal:
I believe that the best path to solve the complex needs of our community is to invite folks to use their imaginations, and be ever on the search for new ideas. I hope today’s proposal serves as an invitation for us to imagine and give shape to ways we can save and build on these sports and arts community assets.
The stakes are high as we seek to build a great city and work to recruit some of tomorrow’s greatest businesses and to win the war for talent, talent that has many options of where to live, work and play.
We are a smart and open community, and, when challenged, it is best if we show ourselves at our best, our most creative, our most understanding. In addition to the necessary frank and tough talk that is happening right now, I believe progress on this issue will be aided through positive idea generation and the invitation for many hands to help build a sustainable solution. Like we do with issues we are working on every day at The Columbus Foundation – hugely difficult issues ranging from the opioid crisis to family homelessness – we simply must be committed to find opportunities in the challenges we face.
I am as disappointed as anyone about where this issue is for this community right now, and certainly am not here to defend the way this has been handled by MLS and the Crew’s ownership. It is obvious that they hope that something can be worked out in Austin to allow for them to move. I don’t – I want the Crew to stay. However, it may not work out for them to move to Austin, and, while our feelings may be hurt that they tried, I just want them to stay in Columbus for a long time – under this or any other ownership.
The warning signs about challenges to the Crew’s financial well-being and future have been obvious and clearly articulated for years. Ticket sales haven’t been where they need them to be, and their stadium and jersey sponsorships are below market. There is little doubt that a move to a downtown stadium would help all of those get to the point where they need them to be, but, they could only happen if he and MLS make a clear, binding commitment to not move the Crew out of Columbus.
I barely know Anthony Precourt, and I wouldn’t give him or the MLS any style points for how the past month’s communications have been handled. However, I do respect the fact that he owns this team, plain and simple, and I believe our best chance to save the Columbus Crew, its youth programs and other benefits it brings to Columbus now and could in the future as the sport continues to grow, is to generate ideas to try to work out a solution that works for this or a successor owner, and for Columbus.
The Mayor and Partnership have done yeoman’s jobs in keeping formal conversations going as best they can in the face of a less than enthusiastic embrace of any dialogue, and we should all be thankful that they put themselves out in front in search of results.
A huge shout out to the #savethecrew folks – they have brought the kind of positive energy to this that it will take to see our way through the numerous obstacles to success. That kind of rallying is such an important ingredient to a community’s success and strength.
Here’s to hoping that this presentation will have at least a “Butterfly Effect” as we continue our quest to build a truly championship city, through sports and the arts, for all.