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Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is not sure when the new soccer stadium for Orlando’s Major League Soccer franchise will be ready and says he does not mind if Orlando City does not play there in its inaugural season.
It has already been announced that the Lions will open MLS play in the Florida Citrus Bowl when they join the big leagues. Mayor Dyer says soccer fans will be amazed at the difference between then and the last time the team played a game at the Citrus Bowl.
“It’s not the Citrus Bowl that people know. It’s going to be the new Citrus Bowl, which is going to be a high quality stadium.”
We asked the mayor at what point during the 2015 season the team planned to move into the new, roughly 20,000-seat, soccer-only stadium.
“I don’t think it really matters whether they do or don’t quite honestly. From my perspective, it might be better to open the season in the new stadium, in the second season,” Dyer said. “But I’m going to kind of leave that to the team, based on when the stadium is finished.”
A representative for the team tells FOX 35 that they do want to move into the stadium at some point during the 2015 season, but they do not have a date selected. One holdup on the soccer stadium continues to be the Faith Deliverance Church. They are the last property owners that have not sold yet. Mayor Dyer says he is encouraged by what has been developing on that front.
“We have weekly conversations with them, so we are progressing along. We haven’t some to a conclusion yet, but I’m hopeful we will.”
Dyer says the church has come down from it’s original offer of $35 million dollars for the land that is valued by an appraiser at near $700,000. Dyer also tells us that the construction on the stadium will not start work until at least May of this year.
The city and team are waiting to see if the state legislature passes a $30 million tax break for the team. If that does happen, Orlando City will simply incorporate an extra $30 million worth of amenities into the existing plan. It would take the stadium cost from $85 to $115 million.
Published at Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:03:00 +0000
