It's been a long time coming, but the soccer-specific stadium that will be the home of the New York Red Bulls is finally a reality.
As construction crews were hard at work clearing the 22-acre site on which the stadium and surrounding development will stand, a host of soccer executives and New Jersey dignitaries thanked the scores of people who have worked on the project thus far.
After six years of negotiations, that's a lot of people, including five different governors.
"Today's ... a celebration of the work done by a group of people that just would not take no for an answer. They refused to let their vision and this dream die," said Nick Sakiewicz, President of AEG New York. "They never took their eyes off the ball, and now we're going to build the finest soccer stadium this country will ever see.
"It's a great sense of pride."
Sakiewicz has been the man in the middle of it all from the beginning. It started with his time as the then-MetroStars president and general manager from 2000-05 and now in his current role with AEG, who sold the Metros to Red Bull early this year but still holds a lead role in the development of the stadium.
Over the years, Sakiewicz has taken his share of criticism regarding the repeated delays and false starts the project has experienced.
"It's not something I ever paid attention to any step of the way," he said. "If I did, it might have de-motivated me. ... Those skeptics are not relevant."
On Tuesday, Sakiewicz was praised for his dedication to the project despite the roadblocks.
"This is one I'm not sure I ever really believed would ever happen, but Nick Sakiewicz and AEG proved tough throughout the whole process," said MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
"We're finally where we need to be in a very important market," he said. "Without this stadium, we would really have struggled with finding a model that worked in the (New York) metropolitan area."
When it opens, Red Bull Park will be the seventh soccer-specific stadium in MLS. Stadiums in Columbus, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago are already open, while facilities in Denver and Toronto are due to open in April 2007. Real Salt Lake have broken ground on a stadium in Salt Lake City to be completed in time for the 2009 season.
According to Sakiewicz, the stadium, which will feature a 360-degree "European-style roof" and 53 luxury suites located just 12 rows from the field, will be completed in late summer or early autumn 2008.
Red Bull New York Managing Director Marc de Grandpre said Tuesday the club has completed an agreement to play its 2007 home games at Giants Stadium and is working on a deal to play the first half of its 2008 schedule at Giants Stadium, as well. Another option for 2008, de Grandpre said, would be to undertake a "road to Harrison," essentially a tour of New Jersey where the club would play at various facilities throughout the state leading up to their Red Bull Park opener.
It's through a landmark public-private partnership that the team in the nation's largest market will finally have its own home. AEG and Red Bull are covering half of the $200 million cost of the project, while Hudson County will provide $60 million for roadway infrastructure and parking facilities and the town of Harrison will contribute $40 million toward the purchase of the land.
On July 27, the Hudson County Improvement Authority announced the sale of $39.4 million in bonds to finance the land purchase, paving the way for construction to begin. Those bonds will be repayed through future payments in lieu of taxes from the Harrison redevelopment.
Red Bull Park will be the centerpiece of a $1 billion development dubbed Harrison MetroCenter. The development includes 300,000 square feet of mid- and high-rise office space, 300,000 square feet of retail space and 3,500 units of housing.
The project is an attempt to revitalize Harrison, a town that was once referred to as a "Hive of Industry," but has become a shell of its former self.
"The departure of (industry) left us with 300 areas of vacant or unutilized properties and robbed us of some of our civic pride," said Harrison Mayor Raymond McDonough. "After today we take a new image."
Though work has already begun, there is still more to do, particularly bettering transportation by building a new Harrison PATH station for those traveling by mass transit and improving the interchange of nearby I-280 for those driving to the facility.
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
