A Soccer Stadium in the Short North? Maybe?

Crew SC is surveying their fans and proposing a pretty big question — should they build a brand new stadium somewhere else thus abandoning their original location, MAPFRE Stadium. Their current stadium sits on a pretty sour spot of land, next to highway entrances to 71, the fairground and a Lowes. The area is dry for foot traffic and fun spots to hangout prior to the games (unless you want to risk getting hit by a semi.)

Soccer is more popular than ever in the United States — 3 million kids are playing in Youth Soccer Groups and according to HuffPost, “Among 12- to 17-year-olds, MLS is now more popular than MLB. In fact, among that age group only basketball is more popular.”

Our current stadium is closing in on 20 years old, and is somewhat outdated in comparison to other cities — simply put, we’re lagging behind. So the CREW SC sent out some surveys and chief among the questions isn’t how, but where the strategically-in-development stadium should go. We’ve broken down the areas, and give you the Pro’s & Con’s of each one.

• Downtown
  • Pro: Home games never start before 6 PM and are almost always on a Saturday, and almost always at 7:30.
  • Pro: Huge boon to the metro business, increase in tourism and foot traffic. We feel that bars (which there are none on Broad St.) could benefit from the increase in warm bodies especially when the majority of games take place on Saturdays at 7:30pm. It creates a perfect scenario of pre-gaming, soccer, post-gaming.
  • Pro: There are plenty of spots near or close to the river, specifically around COSI that could be redeveloped into the stadium. This is less than ideal — as when one says downtown, one means downtown but the space isn’t feasible (unless they get rid of the Columbus Commons…again.) There are some spaces south of High St. but most of the development there looks to be for housing.
  • Con: Construction would be an absolute headache for commuters for a good portion of the following two-three years.

Reddit’s Opinion:

• Arena District
  • Pro: Columbus would be making a concerted effort to just stick all of our “touristy” shit in the Arena District. We’d have Clippers Stadium, Nationwide and the Greater Columbus Convention Center all within a pretty small bubble of each other. The hotels accommodate travelers already and parking is plentiful in this area. Not a whole lot would need done to make this reality, especially in the unused lot close to Vine St.
  • Con: It feels like by putting it in the Arena District, Columbus gives up in regards to planning the city in an interesting, dynamic way.  Very infrequently do I find myself at the Arena district. It makes sense here — yes. Is it exciting — no.

Reddit’s Opinion:

• Short North
  • Con: Just where in the hell do they think they can put a stadium in the Short North? Are they just going to drop it on
  • Con: This is going to make Short North pretty top-heavy. Boutiques depend on foot traffic but not the kind of foot traffic a sports events bring. This would drive local retailers away from the area and bring in even more food and drink which the area certainly doesn’t need. Even worse, this could attract more national chains to the area, diluting the already murky identity of the area even further.
  • Con: The Short North sits in between the desolate downtown and the always packed except for summer campus area. It is certainly busy, but the flow of people and traffic is healthy for the area without being over-bearing. With a 7:30pm soccer game 3 Saturdays a month from March – October, it’s going to further increase the congestion on Gallery Hop nights, events and just plain ol’ Saturdays.
  • Pro: Columbus shows it true colors by admitting it straight-up doesn’t give a flippin’ shit about any other area in the city.

Reddit’s Opinion:

Reddit doesn’t have one because the idea behind putting a stadium in the Short North is so ludicrous it barely deserves the effort of thought.

• Brewery District
  • Pro: This area makes the most amount of logical sense — it is somewhat bar dense but open enough to incorporate Heavy saturday night foot traffic. It is walking distance for many locals, and is an easy commute on the COTA line. It is also far enough out of the way that it won’t be much of a bother to avoid the area if you’re not into getting caught in the hub-bub.
  • Con: The area is somewhat healthy with chains, Wendys, Chipotle, Taco Bell, and a small handful of others further south. We wonder if bringing in more people will invariably bring in more chains, disrupting the indentity of the area, or preventing local business from fully sprouting. No one wants to compete with Taco Bell for post sports game/drunk food (because you can’t win.)

• Franklinton
  • Pro: It seems to have the most going for in terms of incorporating a stadium, especially when you consider Cooper Stadium could be demolished.
  • Con: Does it fit with the image that Frankinton has been building for itself for the past five years? Will the residents and revitalists want a soccer stadium there?

Reddit’s Opinions

• Suburban Columbus
  • Cons: No one wants this. It is boring and unfeasible. We want more people downtown, not traveling to Dublin and getting lost in a Commercial BLVD.

Reddit’s Opinion

None.

Final Verdict from 614NOW — Downtown all the way, with a close second being Brewery District. More downtown foot traffic means more downtown business.

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