FC Cincinnati yesterday released schematics for its proposed West End stadium, a day after the plans were presented to the Hamilton County Commission.
The team will construct the roughly $200 million stadium should it win a Major League Soccer expansion franchise. FCC has been waiting for months to hear from the league whether it will win out over Sacramento and Detroit, who are also contending for the franchise.
The plan for the 21,000 seat stadium doesn’t have many surprises. It shows the facility occupying the current site of Cincinnati Public Schools’ Stargel Stadium along with plots across Central Avenue that currently contain a few buildings. That was the general idea CPS signed off on last month when it agreed to enter into a land swap with FCC, which will build a $10 million replacement Stargel across Ezzard Charles Drive.
The stadium will have 16,610 general admission seats, 3,970 luxury seats and about 500 seats for media. The plans also show shaded areas on the stadium’s eastern edge and corners, as well as its west side, that could be used for another 7,000 seats eventually. The schematic also includes two shaded areas labeled "needed for future expansion." One of those areas, on the stadium's southeast corner, contains two buildings, including a residential building.
Hamilton County Commission has agreed to build a 1,000 space parking garage, the location of which is not revealed on the schematic. Cincinnati City Council earlier this month voted to approve $35 million toward infrastructure improvements around the site, including another 750-space garage that is supposed to be on the stadium site.
Entrances to the stadium front Central Parkway — just a street crossing away from bustling Over-the-Rhine. That’s been the source of some controversy, with Over-the-Rhine Community Council pushing for an agreement with the team around quality of life concerns such as noise, design and traffic mitigation. Some members of the OTRCC have also expressed concerns about the demolition of the buildings on the parcels east of Central Avenue, saying they are historically significant to the city.
In a statement, FCC said yesterday that the schematic is simply a concept, not a finished plan.
“The attached conceptual site diagram is a draft, potential FCC MLS stadium orientation that has been used for planning and discussion purposes with local officials only,” the statement reads. “This diagram is part of a fit study to demonstrate how the stadium could orient on the West End site. There are other possible orientations, configurations, seating capacities and other design specifications that will be evaluated in a full design process, beginning with the formal hiring of architects, which would commence if an MLS team is awarded.”
