Columbus City Council last night approved the city’s 50 million dollar share of the 295 million dollar cost of building a new downtown stadium for the Crew SC and converting the team's current facility into a sports park.
Land for the project west of the Columbus Clippers' ballpark has yet to be purchased from Nationwide Realty Investors. Negotiations continue. Bret Adams, an attorney and sports agent critical of the project, says the Columbus Partnership - a group of powerful businesses run by a personal friend of Crew co-owner Jimmy Haslam - should have secured a commitment up front for the costs of the land.
No one from the city, the partnership or the ownership group responded to Adams' comments. Morgan Hughes with the activist group "Save the Crew" expressed the majority sentiment last night that the project will create hundreds of jobs and new recreational opportunities.
City officials say 30 percent of the project work will go to minority- or women-owned businesses.