St. Paul mayor Chris Coleman announced in his State of the City address he’s got the city’s mighty plannin’ wheels a’churnin’ to get a stadium built downtown for the Saint Paul Saints:
Arguably, the biggest announcement came midway through the mayor’s annual State of the City address at the James J. Hill Library: He said the St. Paul Port Authority had secured a land deal with the real estate investment trust that owns the old Diamond Products building off Broadway Street.
The vacant building, which is across from the St. Paul Farmer’s Market, could become the site of a future regional ballpark for the Saints and amateur baseball leagues.
The Port Authority plans to swap the Lowertown property with the city, and in turn take over the Saints’ outdated Midway Stadium site off Energy Park Drive for future business development. Midway Stadium is city-owned.
“We’ll own the land,” Coleman said. “Now let’s build the ballpark.”
Sure, Mr. Mayor.
Feel free to get your buddies to pony up for it. I just got my property tax bill. I’m done paying for your plans.
A “handshake deal” has been reached with the Florida owners of the Diamond Products building to buy it for $2.4 million, said Tom Collins, a Port Authority spokesman. Details will be made final when the two sides get together next week.
Every time Chris Coleman shakes someone’s hands, he wipes ’em off afterward with a fiver.
Bread and circuses. It must be great to live in a city that’s fixed all of its other problems, has such a low tax rate and still has plenty of extra money socked away to pay for a new baseball stadium.
They won’t have sewer, lights or police but they’ll have a shiny new stadium they can drink beer in. When the city falls into a sink hole and slides down the Mississippi, they can save themselves with pull tabs.
Choo Choo Coleman strikes again! What an idiot that guy is.