Speakers at the groundbreaking acknowledged the people who worked to keep the team in ColumbusCREW
Crew ownership was joined by front-office personnel, city and state officials and MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Thursday, where the group "dug into a pile of dirt" to official break ground on the team's new 20,000-seat stadium, according to a front-page piece by Bush & Myers of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. The Crew earlier in the day "reached an agreement with Nationwide Realty Investors" to purchase the 21 acres for the downtown site for $25.7M. The deal is "expected to close by the end of the month." Both the Haslam and Edwards families also announced they were pledging an additional $70M that will "push the price tag of the stadium" above $300M. At the groundbreaking event, each of the seven speakers "acknowledged the support from the 4,296 people in attendance and those who worked to keep the team in Columbus." The venue is expected to be complete by July '21 (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 10/11). In Columbus, Hayleigh Colombo noted the groundbreaking was "as much about the team's once uncertain past as it was about building excitement in the future." Most of the speakers and public officials at the event spoke about the "panic and uncertainty around potentially losing the team -- and the joy of saving it." The tone of the event was "lively, especially when the league was mentioned" and when Garber took the podium (BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/10).
