I think it's more a bluff too or false information, but you never know... I think they're going to stay because, if the slots license didn't go to Lemieu'x group at this point there'd be political hell to pay I think. Who knows though, I just wish that they'd **** or get off the pot finally so I can know if we'll have this team or not.
I'm not upset if the state spends money on sports franchises for their respective cities... Some things were figured about what events for the new stadiums can generate financially for the city, and it's impressive... They're good parts of the city. The Pirates are getting the All Star game here soon and that's expected to really generate a ****load of cash for Pittsburgh... The Steelers are a money juggernaught... The Pens in their heyday in the early and mid 90's made tons of money for Pittsburgh... A new arena that more or less redeveloped all of our uptown area in one swoop would do a lot of good, so I think the state SHOULD be helping some but from what I gathered Lemieux's group actually can privately fund their building, they just need the Slots license to offset the costs they'll incur building the building, which it's gotta go to someone in our city... The question now is who gets it.
One group wants to build a Casino on the NOrth Shore between PNC Park and Heinz Field. It would essentially sit where 3 Rivers used to be which is now parking lot... There's like 90 different plans for that part of the shoreline though so it's kinda stupid to throw the Slots license to a part of the city that doesn't need it.
The real contention for the license is a guy that owns the other shoreline across from downtown on Pittsburgh's southern and western end. It's a small nightlife/retail complex called "Station Square" (a renovated train station almost as old as the city is). The complex has an amphitheater, it is set under Mt. Washington and the famous Incline railcars we have, it's got clubs, restaurants, hotels, etc... It's got a lot of land it could develope where the Amphitheater is, however this area is prone to traffic jams already so I don't think expanding Station Square is wise. They don't have a major highway artery past them, but instead you get to them via 2 lane streets on Pittsburgh's southside or the numerous bridges that connect downtown to the SouthSide/Station Square. It'd be dumb to really expand this place.
Uptown though borders Pittsburgh's Hill District. The HD is violent, run down, economically and socially depressed... It's a ****hole that shows what happens to a town when it's driving force in its economy dries up. The Civic Arena is more or less what separates Downtown from the Hill District... It is Uptown more or less, and Lemieux wants to basically tear the CA down to put in the parking area where it now stands, and tear down an old church and 2 large buildings to put in the new Casino/Arena... It would revitalize a part of town that NEEDS it. So I think the city would be wise to back it, to put political pressure on the governor to lean this way instead of to Station Square... It just makes more sense for the city at this point, plus the Pens do generate revenue for the city, they deserve the slots license then if it means them staying permanently.
It's just frustrating with all this posturing going on... It's BS.
