Stadium bill dies in last day

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A bill that would have committed state money to stadium projects in St. Louis and Kansas City officially died Friday when it failed to come up for debate in the Missouri House.

In response, Cardinals owners quickly said they are looking for a new home outside of downtown St. Louis.

The stadium plan would have authorized the state to spend $644 million over three decades, with the biggest bulk benefiting the Cardinals, Chiefs and Royals.

Some of that money also would have gone to the Savvis Center in St. Louis and developments in Branson and Springfield.

Cardinals executives held a news conference in St. Louis after the legislative session ended Friday evening without a final vote on the bill.

Team President Mark Lamping made his past warnings official: The failure of lawmakers to approve state money for a new ballpark means that it will be instantly harder to keep the Cardinals where they are.

"The Missouri Legislature has sent a clear message that the state is not interested in helping keep the Cardinals in downtown St. Louis," Lamping said. "Therefore the Cardinal organization has no choice but to begin exploring alternative locations in the St. Louis area to build a new ballpark."

Both Gov. Bob Holden and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said they would do everything they could to keep the Cardinals downtown.

Besides the city, Lamping said four counties in Missouri and four in Illinois are being considered.

He didn't rule out keeping the Cardinals downtown, but added, "I can no longer say that downtown is the most likely site for the new ballpark."

The Cardinals president also blamed lawmakers for apparent self-interest: "We believe that for too many legislators, this debate was never about economics, but rather about politics."

Few at the Statehouse were dispelling that notion.

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, was the lead sponsor of the stadium bill. He didn't mind putting the blame squarely on House Speaker Jim Kreider.

The Nixa Democrat didn't mind taking the blame.