From Deseret News archives:
Sleepy Vineyard abuzz over a stadium
It's a sleepy little town, last year boasting no more than 150 residents.
Barns and grain silos dot a few of the home lots where some of the residents have lived their whole lives. Tractors are parked in the front of homes and old, rusting plows are used as lawn art.
Vineyard, hidden just west of Orem, hardly seems the place for a major sports team to make its home. And yet, that's one idea currently on the table for Real Salt Lake, Utah's first major league soccer team.
The idea of a major athletic team building a stadium in their tiny town has set Vineyard abuzz. To be sure, some like it and some don't.
But opinions aren't in short supply about the offer by Anderson Geneva LLC, which owns the land, to give Real Salt Lake 30 acres for the stadium.
Norman Holdaway, a Vineyard town councilman and liaison between Vineyard's Planning Commission and the town council, said he is excited by the prospect.
Vineyard town leaders have already met for preliminary, informal discussions with Anderson Geneva about the option.
Holdaway said the council would be cautious about the particular type of development but that overall he feels the stadium could end up being just what the town needs.
"We don't want it to be another downtown Salt Lake City," he said. "We'd plan it so it has the variety. This would be the kind of project where it would bring people in, but not to live. They'd come for an event, spend some money, and leave. That's the best way to look at it. I think it would be a very good thing for the town."
Count Patrice Dean among those who see things differently.
"I don't think a soccer stadium is a very good fit for Vineyard. It's an old dairy town," said Dean, a relative newcomer to the town.
Like many in the town, Dean, who has lived in Vineyard two years, can't decide if a soccer stadium is an economic godsend or slightly sad and mildly laughable.
"It'll be hard for the town not to change, but change is not always bad," she said.
On the one hand, a soccer stadium would bring with it other businesses, like restaurants and souvenir shops, which would bring in the kind of money never before seen in the town.
Comments
- Aggies beat Spartans in snowy Logan 4:31 a.m.
- TCU 55, Utah 28 4:24 a.m.
- BYU 24, New Mexico 19 4:21 a.m.
- Jazz game at a glance 3:00 a.m.
- Real Salt Lake: Game at a glance 3:00 a.m.
- Stanford ends Y's soccer season 2:20 a.m.
- Jazz hope D-Will returns soon 2:19 a.m.
- Snow, SUU lose 2:18 a.m.
- Toone saves day for Wildcats 2:15 a.m.
- Win in New Mexico good for Y? 2:15 a.m.
- Apostle's wife felt comfort in attack
- Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
- Short-handed Jazz fly past Sixers
- D-Will home for daughter
- Utes excited for 'dream' game
- Crash on snowy road kills woman
- Bench proves fruitful for Y.
- BYU happy to escape with victory
- GameDay in Fort Worth
- Born of water and the spirit
- SLC council OKs gay rights policies
358 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
200 - BYU happy to escape with victory
194 - Will state consider gay rights law?
148 - TCU creams U.
134 - Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
130 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
129 - Utes remain silent about BCS
120 - Pratt pleads not guilty to sex charges
106 - Celtics crush Jazz
104
If you are looking for a bird on the cheap, the following specials from...
How do you handle kids and contests? Our oldest daughter, 7, is of the...
So Great!!! So Proud - Love RSL - Bring Home The CUP!!!!!
mr cannon's bold assertation that the purpose of the first ammendemnt as...
Great great great game!!!! Nicky Rimando is a god! We're the most complete...
I had the game on DVR and just watched it. That was the most exciting game...
financially cannot this year, but I will watch loyally, how great to hear...
This is hardly surprising. Bennett has a remarkable arrogance which is also...
I guess that is why "they play the game" as Herman Edwards would say.. ...
What was the score of the LSU vs LA tech game? Alot closer than you'd like to...
Has Fedor not said that THIS IS OUR YEAR all year long? Go back and...
This is just a small glimpse of the future with Obamacare: corruption, waste...


You can be the first to comment on this story.