Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III insisted that subsidies the team has received in the past "have paid off for the region" and “any new ones would pay off too"Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The Cardinals' Busch Stadium is “nearing its 20th birthday and could soon need hundreds of millions of dollars more in upgrades, from new seats to new floors to a new clubhouse,” and the team “could seek taxpayer help to get it done,” according to a front-page piece by Austin Huguelet of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III insisted that subsidies the team has received in the past "have paid off for the region" and “any new ones would pay off too.” DeWitt said that the improvements to Busch Stadium are "not optional” if the team “wants to keep the park attractive and enjoyable for the next 20 years -- and the next 80.” DeWitt said that he is "not 'fishing’ for public money now," as the team is “just starting to study the stadium’s needs.” However, Huguelet writes if the Cardinals ask for taxpayer help, “it could be a fight.” City estimates put the annual cost of work at $3.2M per year, but DeWitt said that the real number “is even higher,” in the range of $8M to $10M per year. But he said that the work “is worth it.” His family, which leads the team’s ownership group, “considers the stadium part of a legacy they’re building in the heart of the city.” DeWitt cautioned that Cardinals staffers are "just beginning to formally study the stadium’s needs,” a process that would “take a year to complete.” Some renovations “could be put off for years,” but they “can’t wait too long or the costs will become overwhelming” (
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/6).
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