Well, the longest one-city standing major college championship has been extended yet again.
From 2011, the City of Omaha has signed a 25-year agreement to keep the series in Omaha. That means the series will be in Omaha until 2035, guaranteed.
The push was made when Omaha mayor Mike Fahey said he was interested in building a brand new downtown stadium near Qwest Center Omaha. He said the interest spurred from a suggestion, or request, by the NCAA. A statement that is not true in the least bit.
The new downtown stadium will be built quite a bit like Haymarket Park in Lincoln where the Cornhuskers play.
This stadium will feature 24,000 seats, an open concourse, and modern amenities that the newer ballparks feature.
This also comes as a disappointment to the bleacher bums of the series. They have cut the general admission seating at the new stadium by half of that of Rosenblatt.
The total cost of the new stadium is estimated at $127.84 million. It will be raised in a variety of ways according the city.
- B/R Ticket Guide
They estimated that $42.95 million will come from private sources including the Heritage Services, a local private fund-raising group.
The stadium revenue itself will account for $37.60 million of the total cost.
The final $59.24 million will have to come from public sources in the Omaha area. The fund-raising of this form has been debated and changed several times over the past year and a half of the new stadium proposal.
According to www.omahastadium.com, "Public funding would be covered through a 1% increase in the hotel tax, a $2/rental increase on car rentals and Keno funds. While the hotel tax does slightly increase average room rates, Omaha’s hotels would still be among the most affordable in the country."
The plan was that most of the cost of the new stadium would not fall upon the Omaha residents themselves to ease the debate over whether the new stadium is necessary or even practical.
But you might wonder what will become of Rosenblatt after the 2011 series?
The Rosenblatt property is going to be sold to the neighboring Henry Doorly Zoo. They are paying $12 million for the giant property that Rosenblatt and the parking lots stand on.
The Henry Doorly Zoo plans on additional parking for the cramped small parking lot that they currently offer plus a future panda exhibit that will try and help push the Zoo past the San Diego Zoo for the best in the nation.
The $12 million price tag is developed from the current debt the city owes on the Rosenblatt property.
The 2008 College World Series is being played at Rosenblatt from Jun. 14 to Jun. 24/25 depending upon the length of the best of three championship series.
The series is double elimination and features Miami (Fl.), Florida State, Georgia, Stanford, North Carolina, Rice, LSU, and Fresno State.
This series has three ACC teams seeded in the top four of the eight team series. Miami (Fl.), Florida State, and North Carolina will all attempt the break a 55-year drought of winning the series for the conference.
comments (0) write a comment »
write a new comment
This article has no comments.