Groundbreaking news from Philadelphia
By: travis | December 2nd, 2008
The Sons of Ben have a reason to celebrate – yesterday was the groundbreaking ceremony of the new stadium that the MLS Philly team will play in starting in 2010. And they get their own seating area. Sounds like they know what they are doing over in Philly:
The multi-purpose stadium will feature an 11,000 square-foot club, 30 suites, a built-in concert stage for world-class music shows and a special 2,000-seat area for the Sons of Ben supporters club. The new structure will also have a waterfront park and plaza used not only stadium entry, but also for city sponsored events such as festivals.
The new stadium is the centerpiece of a $500 million entertainment, retail, residential and commercial development covering more than 100 acres along the historic Delaware River waterfront.
I’m a Philly area native – although probably not for much longer – but it’s certainly exciting to see MLS making its way into the city of brotherly love. While the Philadelphia Inquirer sports section doesn’t agree – the stadium nor the team has not received a byline for this event – it’s certainly an exciting time for those anxious to see Philadelphia join the rest of the league.
But for some, it’s not all cheery. You see, the stadium is being constructed in Chester – the poorest city in the state. The arrival of a stadium, much less one representing Major League Soccer, isn’t exciting for some people:
The $115 million yet-to-be-named Chester stadium is being built with $77 million of public funding – $47 million from the state, $30 million from Delaware County.
For those of you doing the math at home, that’s $4,132.23 a seat.
It’s public welfare for rich people.
I can see her point. And it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, given that the project is not built around just the stadium. With a bit of fortune, maybe Chester will be given a shot in the arm that it is needed. Or perhaps it will simply provide more abandoned buildings for those less fortunate to squat in. Only time will tell.
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This is not necessarily the view of the Philadelphia Inquirer. This is the view of one writer in the opinion section who has a number of facts wrong about the stadium. There are several writers at the Inquirer that have come out supporting the stadium, the team, and the supporters. In reference to: “While the Philadelphia Inquirer sports section doesn’t agree”
There is a lot of misleading information out there currently. For example: Karen’s numbers contradict what numerous other reports have said: The state is spending $25 million on the stadium (not $47m – $22m is going to associated development in Chester). Obviously this throws off her $/seat figure also.
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