Though Mecklenburg leaders voted early Thursday morning to move forward with the decision to build a multi-million dollar major league soccer stadium in Elizabeth, it seems it was a short-lived celebration for soccer fans.
Voting 5-4 in favor of building the stadium in the location of Memorial Stadium, fans were excited to bring major league soccer to the Queen City. They planned a public forum Friday at 4 p.m. to discuss the plan, but shortly released a statement canceling the plan.
"We are canceling the City Council Friday 4 p.m. meeting scheduled to discuss the MLS deal. Over the past several days, we have been discussing this opportunity, and while this is very promising, it is clear that we are not prepared to move forward at this time on the current soccer proposal.
"The Council is interested in a future opportunity to pursue Major League Soccer with more information and time to allow for interactive dialogue with the community and appropriate due diligence on our part.
"Any major decision we make needs to be considered as part of the bigger picture as we serve our entire community. Continued partnerships with sports positively impacts many of the initiatives we are working on, and we need to be diligent in planning a future where everyone wins. We very much look forward to continued discussions."
Memorial Stadium now sits on a plot of land that was gifted to the city in 1904 under the impression it be used as a public park. Thought it may not hold enough value to completely derail the project, the county attorney is aware of the deed.
Everything must be submitted to MLS by Tuesday for any upcoming plans.
Jim McPhilliamy, president of the Charlotte Independence minor-league soccer team, expressed his concern over the move in an e-mail stating his own architectural plans for Memorial Stadium were used to help win the bid from the MLS. He said he spent $230,000 of the minor-league team's own money to create an architectural plan to renovate Memorial Stadium for use by the Independence.
“So, our team – the Charlotte Independence – who laid a lot of the groundwork for our community’s ability to have a chance for MLS – is now faced with a situation where we have no viable short-term or long-term stadium solution in Charlotte if you pass the funding for Marcus’ MLS bid,” McPhilliamy wrote. “We have been run over in this process. We will be a Charlotte franchise without a home field – which is not a sustainable situation.”
The city has until Tuesday to submit final plans to MLS.