Cardinals, mayor work behind scenes to rebuild ballpark deal

NOV. 5 DEADLINE

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- Nov. 5 has become a deadline for the St. Louis Cardinals and Mayor Francis Slay, who are working behind the scenes to put together a funding plan for a new stadium.

That date is significant because that is when St. Louis voters will decide whether they should have the power to approve or reject any city money spent on sports facilities.

The Cardinals and Slay say that requiring public votes for stadium proposals could be the death of the project in downtown St. Louis.

Slay said a new funding package for a ballpark will be ready by the end of the summer, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday. The provisions in that package are being closely guarded, but Slay has said it won't include any proposal to raise taxes. And the city has no plans to cut services to free up funds for a ballpark.

"We're moving quickly. We want to make sure we're a player," Slay said. Other players include the counties of St. Charles and St. Louis in Missouri and St. Clair and Madison in Illinois.

Cardinals president Mark Lamping has said the owners have set Sept. 1 as the deadline to start building a new stadium on team-owned property just south of Busch Stadium. Otherwise, it wouldn't be completed in time for the 2006 All-Star Game. Major League Baseball has said that year's game would be played in St. Louis only if there is a new ballpark.

But Lamping said the deadline could be extended if a stadium was built elsewhere.

The Missouri legislature adjourned in May without approving a deal that would have approved state money for a new Cardinals ballpark. The deal was largely unpopular among rural lawmakers.

Slay said it's more important to reach a new financial deal than to fight a referendum backed by foes of public funding for stadiums.

City leaders might challenge the legality of a vote on whether the city must ask residents first before it can offer public money for a new stadium. Meanwhile, the Coalition Against Public Funding for Stadiums could decide to challenge in court whatever proposal the city tries to put together before the Nov. 5 vote.

"Certainly if the ordinance isn't in effect yet and they manage to sign an agreement ... I guess that would make it not applicable," said Jeannette Mott Oxford, coalition coordinator.

But "it depends on whether it is a multiyear package and whether it would require appropriations in the future that would trigger the ordinance as written."

The deal that died in the Legislature would have required the city to pay $4.2 million a year for 30 years. The state would have paid $7 million a year and St. Louis County would have paid $95 million over the same period to help pay off $346 million in bonds. The Cardinals' share would have been at least $138 million, including the land on which Busch Stadium is built.

Now, the city, county and the team are trying to figure out how to make a deal happen without the state.

The Cardinals continue to say real options exist outside of St. Louis. But in the last week there have been signs that the Cardinals are making every effort to build the new ballpark next to Busch Stadium.

Lamping told a group of politicians and business leaders Wednesday night: "Downtown St. Louis is where we belong, and I think where we'll end up."