Temple Stadium Plans:

Don't just say no

By: Dayanna Shomo-One foot in school and one in the grave

November 2, 2018

No, not here!!!

The Temple stadium plans upset many of the people of North Philly. I was upset about the stadium. My school sits directly across the street from the site of the proposed stadium. How will it affect me coming and going to school? How will it affect the community the school around Carver?

But why?

Have the Eagles forced Temple's hand into building the stadium? The Eagles charge the Owls around 1.8 million to use the Linc. The Temple Owls make no money on concessions or parking at those games. This rent is rising and is part of the reason why Temple wants their own stadium.

There are examples of NFL teams and college teams that have a deal where the NFL team charges the college team a fair amount to play on their field. Look at South Florida, which plays in the Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium. South Florida has a deal through the 2016 season that costs it $145,000 a game. Georgia State uses the Atlanta Falcons’ home, the Georgia Dome, and pays somewhere between $30,000 and $50,000 per game. Also in even in Pittsburgh, Pitt only has to pay for a share of ticket sales.

So it's not like the NFL team charge all their college teams unfairly.

STADIUM PLANS: A CLOSER LOOK

Have you taken a close look at Temple's proposed stadium plans? Check out this slide for their plans for the stadium and also how Temple will run game days. They have plans for loading and trash removal areas. Look closer at the pictures and maps of where the stadium would be built. There are even plans to keep fans in "Fan Zones'' for tailgating away from the people in community because of the concerns that communities have with game-day.

What about allegations that Temple is buying up property around the proposed site? Temple explains that no, they are not buying up houses in the area and the recreation center near where the stadium will be.

But Shomo, where are they putting the stadium if they not buying up the area around it? What they truly plan to do is build on Temple owned properties, although they do want it close 15th Street between Norris and Montgomery.

Hey, CARVER COMMUNITY!

Before everyone gets in a fuss about the stadium, I think people should really look over the plans- at least to decide if the idea of the stadium is bad or not. The stadium doesn't seem to mess with the area. The plans from the slide seem not only to have Temple in mind, but also the people around the school too. It's not like they are ignoring the people and their concerns about how the stadium is going to effect them in their daily lives.

Even with these positive plans, Temple and people in the area effected should have a talk face to face, because Temple went ahead with plans without talking to the community first. At least Temple has them in mind with everything from trash removal to traffic control. The community should give the stadium plans a chance.

For more reading. Here are some articles I have found:

  • How the temple stadium can affect the relationship between Temple and the community around the stadium. It has examples: Sun Devil 365 down there in Tempe, Arizona for example, where a stadium has bettered a community and how people have protested to create something like that. It has talk about both sides need to really sit down and talk.
  • How the Eagles have forced Temple's hand into building the stadium. It talks about how the Eagles charge the Owls about a million dollars to play in the field that they use only a couple of times. It goes into how the City payed 36% of the price tag of the field and how the Eagles charge Temple, a publicly funded University, 1.8 million dollars to use their field with no revenue from parking or concessions on game days. More details about other college teams and their deals with the NFL teams' stadiums in their cities.
  • The stadium details. It has the design plans, how Temple plans to do run game days.
  • This Temple News on the Stadium. Goes into how the plans weren’t fully explained. It goes on to discuss the impacts it will have and how there will be jobs created because of the stadium.