MLB Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III said that the team has "completed about 95 percent of the work on a new $95 million plan for the first phase of the long-delayed Ballpark Village project," according to Amir Kurtovic of the ST. LOUIS BUSINESS JOURNAL. DeWitt said that the new plan will have the team and "its partner in the project, The Cordish Cos., build a Cardinal-themed restaurant with terrace views into the stadium; a brand new Cardinals Hall of Fame museum; and the Live District, a covered outdoor performance space that could accommodate concerts, fairs, art shows and other special events." Dewitt added that the Cardinals also would "spend about $10 million to level the entire site and put in place the infrastructure necessary for future development." He said that work on the "revised plan is nearing completion and will be presented to city and state officials in the near future." DeWitt: "It's our hope to be able to get started in 2012 sometime." The size of the "first phase of the project has shrunk with each version of the plan," but DeWitt said that the "scaled-back version is still a big project." Kurtovic notes the new plan is "less ambitious than earlier versions, which included condominiums and office towers" (ST. LOUIS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/28 issue).
