RSL stadium plans are on life support
March 11, 2005
A scener e s e m b l i n g”The Fan” insteadturnedinto “SomethingWickedThis WayComes.” Or,s o m e t h i n gthat couldhave beenR-rated butended like aRated-G fi lm went downlast week at the home ofSen. Kurt Bramble, R-Provo.In sum, Bramble sent a billthrough the 2005 Utah StateLegislature, which passed.The bill prohibits any cityfrom using redevelopmentmoney to fund sports stadiums.The big news of theweek, though, is the reactionto the bill’s passage, inwhich someone vandalizedSen. Bramble’s home lastSaturday night, scrawling”YOU HAVE DECLAREDWAR” in sidewalk chalk onBramble’s driveway.Also left were a giant,infl ated plastic soccer balland a note attached, saying,”Fans hate Bramble.” OneWeb site dedicated to MLSfans even called the Provoperps “the fi rst hooligans ofMLS.”Hooliganism isn’t anythingto laugh at. In fact,some supporters are knownfor going too far for thesake of theirteams.In onematch twoyears ago,a Turkishfan wieldinga machetestruckand killed afan from theteam’s Englishopponentprior to their UEFA Cupmatch in Istanbul.Back to the story: The bill’spassage may well kill plansfor the Grand Real Stadiumdowntown-but one neverknows about Earl Holding,owner of 75 percent of theland on the proposed SLCstadium site-and a goodfriend of RSL owner Checketts.The bill’s passage mayalso doom Murray, where aproposed expanse of shops,youth fi elds and big-box retailerswere planned for thearea around 4500 South andMain Street.A backup plan may bein the works where publicmoney would help placeinfrastructure around theproposed Murray stadium,however.RDA dollars were plannedfor both SLC and Murray,though Murray hasn’t committedany free land to RSL.At any rate, the self-inflictedMLS deadline RSL imposed forthe new stadium is now off.The Salt Lake and Murraystadium proposals are on lifesupport, but they aren’t deadyet.As long as Holding maintainsa breath in his body, thereis life to the dream. After all,this is the same man who fi-nanced a hotel in the middleof Wyoming for lonely oilmenand truckers, and the same guywho worked out a tricky landswap with the U.S. governmentfor a hotel expansion atSnowbasin ski resort-in timefor the 2002 Winter Olympics.Rest assured that the stadiumtalk is far from over. In fact, it’sonly just begun.Real Salt Lake updateRSL lost 2-0 to RecreativaHuelva, ranked second in theSpanish Second Division, intheir final match of the Europeanleg of training camp inIsla Cannella, Spain on Tuesday.Real Salt Lake (5-2-2 preseason)now returns to theU.S. Saturday, their new adidasjerseys are to be unveiledat the Town Lift Plaza in ParkCity at 6 p.m. Several RSL players,as well as team officials,are scheduled to appear at theevent, which is free and opento the public.Real Salt Lake resumes trainingcamp in Redlands, Calif.,March [email protected]