Former Newark Bears stadium sold to NYC developer for $23M

The Canadian American League (Can-Am) forum
Fran
Site Admin
Posts: 1204
Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2003 2:49 am
Location: Southampton, PA
Contact:

Former Newark Bears stadium sold to NYC developer for $23M

Post by Fran » Tue Mar 22, 2016 3:59 pm

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2016/ ... loper.html

The former home of the Newark Bears minor league baseball team — left to languish along Broad Street since the hard-luck franchise folded in 2013 — has been sold to a New York-based developer for $23.5 million.

The site at the corner of Broad Street and Orange Street has been sold to the Lotus Equity Group, city officials confirmed this week. Lotus plans to demolish Riverfront Stadium and build a mixed-use, high-rise tower in its place.

"This property is so significant," said Baye Adofo-Wilson, the city's Deputy Mayor for Economic and Housing Development. The stadium "was part of a previous attempt to revitalize the downtown...It didn't work out. We had to come up with a new idea."

DJ Omnimaga
Site Admin
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 4:16 am
Contact:

Post by DJ Omnimaga » Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:53 am

I'm shocked at how fast US stadiums come and go compared to Canadian ones. In Canada, some hockey arenas like the Winnipeg Arena or Montreal Forum lasted us over 50 years and we have baseball stadiums like in Trois-Rivières and Quebec City that have been open since 1939 (although Quebec stadium went very close to be demolished at the end of the 90's). Yet we look South of the border and we see places like Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium and Miami Arena that gets demolished only 15-20 years after being built. Such a waste.

nksports
Site Admin
Posts: 3669
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:53 am
Location: Newton, KS (the land of Oz)

Post by nksports » Fri Jun 10, 2016 4:00 am

[quote=""DJ Omnimaga""]I'm shocked at how fast US stadiums come and go compared to Canadian ones. In Canada, some hockey arenas like the Winnipeg Arena or Montreal Forum lasted us over 50 years and we have baseball stadiums like in Trois-Rivières and Quebec City that have been open since 1939 (although Quebec stadium went very close to be demolished at the end of the 90's). Yet we look South of the border and we see places like Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium and Miami Arena that gets demolished only 15-20 years after being built. Such a waste.[/quote]

You Canucks don't know how to play the game. Picture yourself as a super 1%er multi-billionaire owner. Now you don't get that way by paying for your own lunch.
You tell the local municipality "I'm losing money hand over fist in this five-year old, dilapidated slum. Now if you don't build me the latest, greatest thing with all the bells, whistles and baubles, I'm moving my team to town X, which will bow down and kiss my tukas for just showing up."

DJ Omnimaga
Site Admin
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 4:16 am
Contact:

Post by DJ Omnimaga » Sat Jun 11, 2016 5:11 am

Sadly, that tactic doesn't work well in Canada because the federal government and most provincial governments in Canada are against spending public money in stadiums. And if owners threaten to move the team elsewhere it often doesn't work, as demonstrated with the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques in 1995 and the Montreal Expos in 2004. Now Quebec City got a pass with the new hockey rink because the Colisée Pepsi was so old (1949) that no music band nor hockey tournaments wanted to play there anymore. Edmonton got very lucky with their new arena for the Oilers. Governments here don't give a <bloop> if the team moves, even if it a relocation damages the local economy.

If the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens had not spent their own money on new arenas in the 90's then they would still be stuck with the Maple Leafs Gardens and Montreal Forum today (and the Habs would probably have moved to Atlanta or something)

Post Reply

Return to “Can-Am”