Foes aim cleats at Fairpark soccer idea

Penny-wise but pound-foolish — that's how downtown advocates describe Salt Lake City's shift concerning a new Major League Soccer stadium.

Instead of abandoning downtown because of expense and political headaches, city leaders should stick with the heart of Utah's capital, they say.

This past week the city revealed it had a new location for a potential Real Salt Lake soccer stadium. Instead of a downtown block at 600 South and Main the city put forth a cheaper proposed location — the Utah State Fairpark.

"They're so concerned about today's dollars they don't look at the future dollars," downtown real estate broker Vasilios Priskos said. "People get lost in today's dollars and don't look at the future value of a soccer stadium right in the core of downtown.

"We should do what's best for soccer, not what's the cheapest."

The soccer stadium joins other public projects that city leaders had proposed for downtown but couldn't put together because of the various difficulties associated with doing downtown developments — small spaces and high prices.

Notably, a planned 2002 Winter Olympic legacy plaza in downtown slipped to the University of Utah because of disagreements on space and cost.

But abandoning downtown projects because of upfront prices is not wise policy, say Priskos and downtown developer Bruce Bingham.

Instead of eyeing upfront costs, which would be cheaper at the Fairpark as opposed to downtown, Bingham and Priskos said city leaders should consider where the stadium would best thrive.

Bingham, whose Illinois-based Hamilton Partners is building an office tower on Main Street downtown, points to the success of the Delta Center as opposed to Franklin Covey Field, where the Salt Lake Stingers play triple-A baseball

Franklin Covey, which is roughly as far away from downtown as the Fairpark, has struggled to attract fans. The Stingers announced this week they've had a decade of sagging attendance figures since they opened in 1994.

Faced with those numbers, the Stingers — despite being in first place — said they were giving away free tickets to their next eight home games in an effort to boost interest.

At the same time, the Utah Jazz have continued to draw good crowds at the Delta Center, despite having the fourth-worst record in the National Basketball Association.

While the Jazz are a top-level team and the Stingers only triple-A, Bingham said a major difference in attendance is that one stadium is downtown and the other is on the outskirts. Adding to the joy of a Jazz game is the excitement of coming into the heart of the city.

The Stingers don't have that same draw.