[drummer]

Question on a soccer stadium, etc. Has anyone ever floated the idea of the YMCA area near the Amtrak station? I much prefer the Statesman property, personally, but I got to thinking about it for this spot as I was looking on Google Earth - how could the area around a possible/eventual LSR station near the Amtrak station (or a combined station?) be utilized? If they were to somehow extend the Red Line and/or an urban streetcar network to that area also...it might be a good central point for a stadium. Should people need to drive a car to get there, Mopac is relatively close. These are just thoughts that I'm getting down, so feel free to tear them apart - just wanted to float the idea since we've talked about stadium locations and the best ways to get people to/from before.


Edit: Additional thought, since I'm dreaming anyway. The stadium doesn't have to be huge (I'm thinking of the Houston Dynamo stadium as an example for size). The stadium facility could take up the land where the current Amtrak station/parking lot is as well as the YMCA facility - and possibly one of the softball fields at Lamar/Cesar Chavez. To avoid pissing too many people off, a YMCA facility could be integrated into part of the structure of the stadium itself (under one side of the bleachers, etc.) thus utilizing the facility for more than just games or other events every once in a while. There's a big field next to AHS's baseball stadium where the softball field could be relocated if that were an issue (not sure if that land is city-owned or AISD's). Other benefits are the nearby pedestrian bridge, the Lance Armstrong bike path, the hike and bike trails, and relative closeness to CBD, albeit not an actual part of it.