(by Autumn Linford desnews.com 7-27-06)
VINEYARD — Plowed fields of parched earth and green alfalfa line the narrow roads of Vineyard.
It's a sleepy little town, last year boasting no more than 150 residents.
Barns and grain silos dot a few of the home lots where some of the residents have lived their whole lives. Tractors are parked in the front of homes and old, rusting plows are used as lawn art.
Vineyard, hidden just west of Orem, hardly seems the place for a major sports team to make its home. And yet, that's one idea currently on the table for Real Salt Lake, Utah's first major league soccer team.
The idea of a major athletic team building a stadium in their tiny town has set Vineyard abuzz. To be sure, some like it and some don't.
But opinions aren't in short supply about the offer by Anderson Geneva LLC, which owns the land, to give Real Salt Lake 30 acres for the stadium.
Norman Holdaway, a Vineyard town councilman and liaison between Vineyard's Planning Commission and the town council, said he is excited by the prospect.
"We know it will bring a lot more people to the area, which we've kind of avoided for a long time, but we know something's going to change," he said. "This would be an economic boom for the town. I've talked to the planning committee about it, and we're pretty well decided that we'd like to do anything we can to promote that kind of development."
Vineyard town leaders have already met for preliminary, informal discussions with Anderson Geneva about the option.
Holdaway said the council would be cautious about the particular type of development but that overall he feels the stadium could end up being just what the town needs.
"We don't want it to be another downtown Salt Lake City," he said. "We'd plan it so it has the variety. This would be the kind of project where it would bring people in, but not to live. They'd come for an event, spend some money, and leave. That's the best way to look at it. I think it would be a very good thing for the town."
Count Patrice Dean among those who see things differently.
"I don't think a soccer stadium is a very good fit for Vineyard. It's an old dairy town," said Dean, a relative newcomer to the town.
Like many in the town, Dean, who has lived in Vineyard two years, can't decide if a soccer stadium is an economic godsend or slightly sad and mildly laughable.
"It'll be hard for the town not to change, but change is not always bad," she said.
On the one hand, a soccer stadium would bring with it other businesses, like restaurants and souvenir shops, which would bring in the kind of money never before seen in the town.
On the other, the small-town feel is what many Vineyarders love best, and an economic boom could chip away at their quiet way of life.
"It would definitely not be a small town anymore," said Tina Holdaway, whose house is surrounded by corn and alfalfa fields. "It would be good for the city, but it's sad to think it would be different. I always wanted to live in a small town, but I guess if we want that kind of lifestyle, we'll have to move somewhere even more desolate."
Besides, residents say Vineyard is growing no matter what, with the stadium or without.
"We're going to change anyway," said Arthur Pheysey, who has lived in the town 28 years. "Vineyard is the last pocket of undeveloped land in Utah Valley. I don't think it's going to be bad, but it's going to happen."
Team owner Dave Checketts visited the site last week, and Michael Hutchings, co-owner of Anderson Geneva, said he thinks it's an offer no one could refuse.
"They are pretty serious about the offer," he said. "We are very excited about the possibilities."
There are other possibilities for the team, and no definite decisions have been made about building a stadium in Vineyard.
The deadline for decisions is drawing near, however.
Checketts has said he will settle on his next move before Aug. 12, when he said he'll decide to either sell the team or find a suitable stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment