Columbus Foundation Leader Pitches Stadium Plan To Keep Crew

Columbus Foundation President & CEO Doug Kridler is "pitching a downtown site for a 21,000-seat soccer stadium aimed at keeping" the Crew. Kridler said that the unveiling of his proposal was "timed to correspond" with tonight's Toronto FC-Crew playoff game at Mapfre Stadium and that he "wants it to spark conversation and show local people -- and national media -- that the city isn’t giving up" hopes to keep its MLS club despite relocation plans. But "questions and reservations quickly emerged." Franklin County Commissioner John O’Grady said that commissioners "would not consider extending part of a temporary county sales tax to help pay for the proposal, one of Kridler’s ideas." There is also concern over whether the site is "big enough" for the Crew. Kridler has not talked "with civic and business leaders about the idea" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 11/21).