HOK's design of a new open-air stadium for the St. Louis Rams.
Architects, government officials and convention representatives are feverishly rolling out a plan for a new state-of-the-art football stadium in St. Louis to keep their beloved football team in Missouri.
A new design for the 64,000-seat, open-air stadium was presented to the public early this year, hoping to trump any plans that Rams owner Stan Kroenke might have to move the team to Los Angeles.
Football fans in St. Louis are sitting on the edge of their seats to see what will happen next.
The proposed stadium will sit on an 88-acre development along the Mississippi River, in an area that is in need of an economic boost. Just to the south of the proposed plot is the St. Louis Gateway Arch that’s currently going through a $380-million renovation.
“I think putting the stadium downtown gets people really excited. Basically, it’s mostly vacant, so there’s an opportunity to do something great to the city,” said Eli Hoisington, vice president of HOK, a global architect firm that is designing the stadium. “People in St. Louis are hard core sports fans.”
Despite the passion for the St. Louis Rams, Kroenke is still looking at L.A. as an option, Hoisington noted.
Kroenke actually moved the Rams from L.A. to St. Louis in 1995, but now L.A. seems ripe for another NFL team to lead the city in its football ventures. In 2014, Kroenke bought a 60-acre plot of land in Inglewood that was approved for an NFL stadium, but the owners of a 238-acre plot adjacent weren’t on board, according to a report by NFL.com.
However, now that city and some NFL officials are on board to potentially build a new stadium in St. Louis, Kroenke might have more to think about. Yet, he’s staying extremely tight lipped about his plans.
Despite his vagueness, St. Louis hopefuls are continuing to design a new stadium.
“We’re formally working with the NFL,” Hoisington said. “They’re at the table with us.”
The mayor of St. Louis, Francis Slay, would love to see a blighted area in the city turned into an economic driver with a new NFL stadium, said his spokeswoman Maggie Crane.
“He’s looking forward to seeing what they come forward with and how it will move off the beautiful paper that it’s on and into the real world,” Crane said. “A new stadium must be held as a public asset. The construction needs to provide good paying jobs.”
Additionally, the mayor looks forward to what a new stadium could do for St. Louis in terms of tourism, hotel occupancy and food and beverage sales. Missouri’s Gov. Jay Nixon also supports the project.
“If we’re going to build a stadium — we’re going to build it with skilled workers getting competitive wages. I’m very proud that the plan developed by former Anheuser Busch President Dave Peacock and leading attorney Bob Blitz meets these strict criteria — and then some,” Nixon said at an event last month about the new stadium.
HOK is the architect on the project, and Peacock and Blitz also are development partners for the stadium proposal.
The Rams currently play at the Edward Jones Dome that will be utilized for sports and convention space if the new stadium gets off the ground.
“It’s a win-win the way it’s set up. A couple of other things that’s telling is how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time,” Crane said of the project. The proposal started circulating in December 2014 and early January.
Stadium officials have already been told by Armen Electric, the city’s utility, that it will move its transition lines to make the project happen. To top it off, the railroad company that has tracks running through the proposed property said it will move railroad tracks, Crane said.
“From the time that Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz made their presentation, all of these pieces have been falling into place,” she added.
It’s not clear yet who will pay for the proposed stadium that’s projected to cost $900 million to $1 billion, and it’s a sticky topic.
Hoisington declined to talk about the financing.
“The funding … I have to completely defer on. It’s just a sensitive topic right now with how it’s going to be done,” he said.
The governor has said that it could bring a $300-million annual economic boost to St. Louis.
In fact, the stadium design is changing each day, and the seats could jump to 72,000. It’s still not certain how many club seats and suites will be built.
“We’re all pretty jazzed,” Hoisington said.
Interviewed for this story: Eli Hoisington, (314) 754-4290; Maggie Crane, (314) 422-6783