I've been perusing a couple of Rams forums while eating lunch and there were a number of posts ripping the Edward Jones Dome as a football venue. As a season ticket holder I agree the place is pretty bad as a football venue just over a decade old.



There were even a few people claiming that Stan Kronke is already quietly buying some plots of land.



So let's say in 10 years the Rams decide they want out of the dome and are willing to pay for a new open air stadium themselves; where could it/should it go? Playing around on Google Maps I came up with the following.



-the old Pruitt Igoe site

Pro: the land is available and cheap.

Con: not close to highways and public transport. No bars/restaurants in the area.



-south of Choteau's Landing

Pro: could have the large lots for tailgating/parking. Soulard is just a few blocks west.

Con: no public transport.



-north Riverfront

Pro: not too far from current place. If Lumiere place really builds what they plan, this could further spur riverfront development.

Con: nothing is close right now.

Los Angeles

How about the big empty space where Ballpark Village isn't?

Someone else b*tching and moaning.



http://www.insidestl.com/mckernan/index.php?storyid=378

-The Dome is dead. Brutal. It is one of the worst atmospheres in the NFL. It's so bad that people would rather stay at home or go to a bar and watch games as opposed to taking free tickets. As I said above, I don't know what can be done about it, because the building has only been open for 12 years, but the Edward Jones Dome is the Tropicana Field of the NFL: Both were built without teams ready to occupy them...and now both are struggling to get fans to occupy them.

-the old Pruitt Igoe site

Pro: the land is available and cheap.

Con: not close to highways and public transport. No bars/restaurants in the area.



-south of Choteau's Landing

Pro: could have the large lots for tailgating/parking. Soulard is just a few blocks west.

Con: no public transport.



-north Riverfront

Pro: not too far from current place. If Lumiere place really builds what they plan, this could further spur riverfront development.

Con: nothing is close right now.

All of those suggestions work. I think south of Chouteaus Landing is my least favorite simply because Busch is also located near there. I like the idea of having the stadiums anchor the north and south sides. Unlikely to happen, but I'd go along with a previous suggestion to build it on the Bottle District site and have McGuire do their thing where the dome now stands. There's always East St. Louis. Anything we do in the east side further draws the center of the region towards downtown St. Louis.

[quote="jmatthewmckee

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I think south of Chouteaus Landing is my least favorite simply because Busch is also located near there. I like the idea of having the stadiums anchor the north and south sides.





There's always East St. Louis. Anything we do in the east side further draws the center of the region towards downtown St. Louis.[/quote]



"Busch is located near there" Really?



"east side" IMO not an option...



I agree with everyone that the dome sucks... but I would find it hard to believe that we would get a new stadium in the next 30 years...I think we're stuck with it.



I think the thing to do would be for the rams to get creative and find ways to live that library up...

am I missing something here? Why would we not put a new stadium where the old one is? I think the problem with Ed Jones isn't geography, it's the Dome itself.

I hope that a new open air stadium would be built, and I hope that it could be as close to the old site as possible.



Blow it up, move the rams to Mizzou for a year and build it in the dome's place.



The Bears played at U of I while their stadium was completed.



I guess you could always build it and play with it half finished similar to busch 3.

You guys are forgetting that the dome doubles as valuable convention area space. That space is essential to our convention industry. We would also lose out any final four events as scottrade isn't large enough!



facts from the conventions center website...

The Edward Jones Dome's floor offers 162,000 square feet of prime exhibit space which connects directed to the rest of the America's Center complex to form an uninterrupted space of 502,000 square feet of exhibit area. Thirteen additional meeting rooms are included in the Dome. The Dome floor and annex can accommodate 780 10x10 exhibit booths, and as many as 10,000 convention attendees have been served at banquets on the Dome floor.

any other locations would also not be very close to metrolink...Don't get me wrong I hate the dome too, i'm just saying...

bpe235 wrote:You guys are forgetting that the dome doubles as valuable convention area space. That space is essential to our convention industry.

Plus stuff like NCAA Final Fours. Then again there's rumors the new dome in Indianapolis will be a permanent home for the Final Four since the NCAA's headquarters is there.



Just like there's been rumors the NCAA Wrestling Championships could have a permanent home at Scottrade Center.

^bummer, but nothing is permanent!

I've been saying for years that it should be a retractable roof place. St. Louis is too nice in Sept - early Nov for people to sit inside a domed stadium - especially if there's a cards game in town. What would you rather do? Spend $90 to watch a mediocre team indoors with craptastic food and concession options (and weak halftime entertainment), or go to a cards game, spend half the price and be outside? The Jones Dome is like watching football in a garage. For $100 million, they could make it a retractable roof - but it'll never happen, not without the city kicking in money, and there's no way they'll do it.

migueltejada wrote:I've been saying for years that it should be a retractable roof place. St. Louis is too nice in Sept - early Nov for people to sit inside a domed stadium - especially if there's a cards game in town. What would you rather do? Spend $90 to watch a mediocre team indoors with craptastic food and concession options (and weak halftime entertainment), or go to a cards game, spend half the price and be outside? The Jones Dome is like watching football in a garage. For $100 million, they could make it a retractable roof - but it'll never happen, not without the city kicking in money, and there's no way they'll do it.

I agree with all the above. I'd love to see the Rams simply commit to improving the Edward Jones Dome, but they're going to ask for public assistance, and then they'll have a difficult if not impossible time securing it.

bpe235 wrote:^bummer, but nothing is permanent!

I think the article I read talked of maybe alternating Final Fours: one year Indy, one year somewhere else and then back to Indy. New Orleans wouldn't be a bad choice.



I also thought I read that Jerry Jones was shooting his mouth off around Dallas about the Cowboys $1 Billion new stadium becoming the permanent home of the Super Bowl since the place could possibly accomodate up to 100,000 people.

^ You're right, and that's just the first obstacle. After the Cardinals secured public funding for the current Busch Stadium, city voters approved a proposition forcing a public vote on future requests for public funding of sports facilities. And for a variety of reasons, I have a hard time believing a majority of city voters would approve of additional public funds for the Rams (whether they choose to improve the current facility or build new elsewhere in the city proper).



I could be wrong, but I would also assume this is the reason the City of St. Louis was never seriously in the running for the proposed MLS stadium.

"Busch is located near there" Really?

Uh, comparing the distance between Busch and EdJones now to the proposed site south of Chouteau's Landing, Yes, I do think it would be "located near there." Too close together in my opinion, but I could be mistaken.

Somewhere near a giant interchange with room for sprawling parking lots. Football is a suburban sport that doesn't provide anything to the urban context especially for only 8 days a year. East STL would be a good choice. I'm sure IL would throw some money at them.

^ interesting - does anyone know of a football stadium that adds to its neighborhood/urban surroundings? College or Pro? I'm not coming up with anything . . .

ArchMadness wrote:Somewhere near a giant interchange with room for sprawling parking lots. Football is a suburban sport that doesn't provide anything to the urban context especially for only 8 days a year. East STL would be a good choice. I'm sure IL would throw some money at them.

Good points! For so few games a year, does it NEED to be in downtown StL? Aside from aerial photography, does it offer benefits? The tailgating aspect is also of note. Since football culture is about bringing your own beverages, cooking food in a parking lot, etc... does it really support the neighborhood the way baseball does?

^ Good point. It often seems that a new stadium (along with new uniforms, etc.) is used as a springboard to improve the team. Or at least, people don't seem to talk about needing a new stadium when their team is doing well. The one exception I can think of is the Colts, but their current dome is the smallest stadium in football.

I would say that if the RAMS were winning then yes, most would not be talking about the DOME. However, I have wanted open air since the thing was built... I just think it is easier to talk about now that they are 0-2....

Um, this is totally ridiculous. First of all the dome is only 12 years old, and I've been to plenty of games there and its not all that bad. And it got us two super bowl births and one championship if I'm not mistaken. Back then everyone touted how great it was cause it was so loud it shook the other teams. The place is empty because the Rams suck, not cause the stadium sucks. Also, any public funding of either massive improvements (ie the retractable roof) or a new stadium would be such a slap in the face to the people that work hard every day to bring it the limited amount of tax dollars to this city and state. There are so so so many things much more deserved of this type of money I don't even know where to begin.