Local Sports
Earlier in June, I saw a celebration of good sportsmanship, athletics and academic achievements.
The Alexandria Sportsman Club met and awarded several baseball, track and soccer boys and girls for their ability to successfully balance these attributes. Seeing their smiles as they posed with plaques for photographs made me feel happy.
Sportsman’s Club has been around since 1947 and believes in practicing civic virtues.
The group also invites guests to talk local sports. Ryan Zimmerman, the Nationals’ third baseman and slugger and others have come to the monthly meetings and answered a wide range of questions.
I spoke about Capital Sporting Grounds and the issues of local governments playing for the construction of sports stadiums. Many people are fond of Nationals Park but the $650 million dollar cost is outstanding in bonds that are being very slowly paid off. Intriguingly, had the city been able to build the park only a few years later they would have gotten a better deal.
Target Field cost Minneapolis : $392 million from a 0.15 percent sales tax in Hennepin County, The Twins put up $152.4 million.
Cowboy Stadium cost $325 million Bonds, approved by Arlington voters, being repaid by a half-cent sales tax$25 million Tarrant County $113 million Private bonds, not city-funded, that will be repaid with a 10 percent ticket tax and $3 parking fee. Ownership of the team is likely to contribute $261 million.
As always, real estate is contingent on the market and how desperate the landowner is to have a tenet.
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