by Mike Gibson

Stadium: The Alternatives

TU fans would be right on top of the action at CBP.

For the next year, maybe five, the powers-that-be at Temple University who comprise the Board of Trustees can bang their collective heads against a wall or get to work.

Banging their heads would constitute essentially what they are doing now: Trying to make peace with people who want no peace.

Neville Chamberlain tried to do that with the Nazis in the late 1930s. When the British finally figured out the Nazis did not want peace, it was almost too late. Winston Churchill finally unraveled that mess.

Temple wants peace with its neighbors and a stadium entirely within property it owns. Because a part of that property is a public street, the neighbors can block it so Temple must abandon this folly and figure out a place and a way to build its stadium or look for the alternatives.

Here are the acceptable ones:

Plenty of room (counting space on right) for a 35K stadium at Broad and Master.

Move the stadium to Broad and Master. This would require knocking down a brand new $22 million Olympic sports facility and moving it back to Broad and Norris. That probably means spending another $22 million on the Olympic facility but it would be worth it. Critics of this plan say “it won’t fit” but that’s only if the fields are North-South. Anyone who attended the spring game saw plenty of room for an double-decker East-West stadium from Broad Street to 13^th Street that would require no closure of a city street.

A simple purchase of either “North Broad Getty” or “Auto Zone” or “Wheel thing” gives Temple plenty of room to connect the hospital with the main campus via a stadium

Connect the main campus with Temple Hospital. Put the stadium halfway up Broad Street. There is plenty of open land that Temple can acquire near the North Broad SEPTA train stop that would allow for more parking. Just take a ride North of main campus (lock the doors) and you will see boarded-up property, not actual homes, along the old route that included the Phillies first home (Baker Bowl, Broad and Lehigh). Can’t imagine the neighbors would object to Temple purchasing homes that currently are unoccupied and boarded up. It would be within walking distance of both the main campus and the health sciences center and just as accessible to rail and subway transportation as the current plan. Again, no public streets would have to be closed.

Swallow hard and accept Jeffrey Lurie’s demands. Any way you look at it, Temple is going to spend a lot of money parking its football program. Either it’s the laughably low figure of $130 million for a stadium or increase its rent five-fold to the Philadelphia Eagles for the right to play in one of the nicest stadiums in major college football.

Wait The Phillies Out. This is not as crazy as it seems. Extend the lease and work with the city and the Phillies to get their long-sought-after Center City stadium. Then slide into Citizens Bank Park. Play at the Linc until then. A 45K Temple football stadium in South Philly makes more sense than a 70K Temple stadium in South Philly or even a 35K Temple stadium in Templetown.

Unacceptable would be a move to Ambler or an upgrade of the Chester stadium (farther away than the Linc and less accessible to public transportation) or any deal with Franklin Field, which would be seen as a return to the bad old days.

Either way, if this last-ditch “community engagement” does not work, the BOT needs to roll up its sleeves and come up with a new plan.

Banging heads against a wall for the next five years serves no purpose to anyone.

9 thoughts on “Stadium: The Alternatives”

HR WHITE
June 29, 2018
3:44 pm

Or the stupid Philly politicians could (but probably won’t) ignore the radical jerks who turned out for the last neighborhood forum (most of them did not even live in the area) and give us the go ahead, a move which would also highly benefit the neighborhood (and increase their property values a lot and enable them to also rent out driveways to people coming to the games) and the city, as well as Temple. Rabbi Dick White

> WordPress.com

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kj101941kj
June 29, 2018
9:22 pm

drop football and double-down on basketball? The question should be course study at the Fox School of Business. Big time TV is gone for good, it left with cable; and, the P5 is the Predator.

the best thing about beating your head against the wall is it feels so good $$$ when you stop.

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- George
  June 30, 2018
  11:58 pm
  
  No, we’re a football school now. Nothing engages the Temple community more than a football game even if it’s a G5 football game. Look at the crowds for Temple football homecoming. Temple basketball has never gotten a single crowd that would match even the lowest Temple football crowd since 2006. That’s a dozen years ago. It’s important for the Temple BOT to bring that many Temple people into one space, even if its 1-6 times a year.
  
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Dave
June 30, 2018
4:12 pm

I like the CBP configuration. I wouldn’t mind the basepaths and a non-league game or two at the Frank to accommodate MLB. This would be like banging Jeffrey and the local thugs’ heads against the proverbial wall. I also like the old historic Baker Bowl location.

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- George
  July 1, 2018
  12:01 am
  
  I agree. Temple is wasting time placating the community. It’s time to think outside the box. I will never understand why the community is so against this project that would affect them (not even adversely) for six days a year and accept the many Temple projects (Temple Towers, Morgan Hall) that affects them 350 plus days a year.
  
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Nonewhere Listens
July 1, 2018
1:23 am

Personally I think Ambler would work and situate the facility between main campus and Allentown where a potential market could have easy access to the game and be covered by several local papers (Landsdale, Doylestown, BC Courier, A-Town MCall. All could adopt the team by virtue of proximity as none do now. It would also get us away from the pro-town environment. I know, I an a lone dissenter.

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- Mike Gibson
  July 1, 2018
  1:51 am
  
  My only problem with Ambler is that 12,500 Temple students live on the main campus and since there is no direct 10-minute subway stop between Ambler and the Linc there would be far less students going to a game in Ambler than the Linc. Move the entire campus to Ambler, including the two large Temple Tower and Morgan Hall residences, and a stadium there would have widespread support. I would not be opposed to moving Temple out of this ungrateful city.
  
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joninohio
July 1, 2018
10:05 am

If Ambler would ever be considered they should never have gotten rid of the old TU stadium on Cheltenham Ave. Conceptually, moving an entire campus to screw the city might make us feel better but it’s a pipe dream that, practically, would cost billions to rebuild everything – an impossible endeavor of course.

It’s great to be a Div.1A program but costs have to be reduced, so it’s either a better Lurie deal (or at the least not allowing any more increases in rent) or building their own stadium some damn place! Seems as if, like getting a better lurie deal, the Phillies stadium would be a long shot or too long to wait?

Whatever……it’s a real dilemma for TU and somethings got to give.

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- kj101941kj
  July 1, 2018
  8:04 pm
  
  bingo, we have a serious challenge with zero practical and/or financially acceptable solutions on the horizon.
  
  meanwhile TUFB is burning cash faster than Tesla Motors…., again, we don’t have much of a future unless we get more pro-Temple support in the political.
  
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