The Indy Eleven's Ersal Ozdemir no longer has any worries about that half-billion dollar development project planned for the old airport terminal site, which included an 18,000-seat stadium its developers planned to use to lure a major league soccer team. The Indianapolis Airport Authority Board, now controlled by Mayor Joe Hogsett appointees, voted unanimously this morning to nix the medical complex Athlete's Business Network planned to develop at the site, along with that new soccer stadium according to the IBJ. If the development had gone forward and the stadium constructed, it would have dealt a death blow to Ozdemir's efforts to get a publicly-financed stadium downtown for his minor league soccer team.
The IBJ reports the vote came after a closed-door executive meeting of the board. "We will leave our options open and continue to search for the optimal project that will provide significant benefits to Central Indiana and especially the west side of Indianapolis," the board said in a written statement. "The airport has been listening to the community’s input and will always put our community first, so the IAA has cancelled the request for proposals for the 130 acres at the former airport site," the board’s statement said. "We will also continue to engage and gather feedback from our stakeholders, including the City of Indianapolis, our neighboring communities and others."
5 comments:
This is a good story but it's not THE story here. The real story is that Indianapolis officials and their cheerleaders in the press are so desperate for any development (Stamping Plant, anyone?) that they touted this story when it was obvious to anyone with a brain that there was no way this amateur could pull it off. It wasn't a serious proposal and a serious city would have never even considered it to begin with.
Perhaps Indy can get a confection sponsor for its new sucker stadium...
Hey Gary, have you heard:
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed here in Utah over Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz’s eligibility to run for president. In a ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Jill Parrish rejected Walter Wagner’s lawsuit that claimed Cruz is Canadian, and not eligible to run for President of the United States. She said Wagner, who filed the lawsuit on his own, lacked standing to bring a claim. Judge Parrish said it is true that Cruz was born in Canada, but his mother is a U.S. citizen, making him an American citizen. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Cruz is campaigning in Utah on Saturday.
I still think that the old airport would be one helluva cool paintball field...
Well, the property has only been available since November 2008, so there's no rush.
Of course, there was also a planning/building period of 5 years where people could have been thinking about what should be placed there.
Typical politics.
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