The list is long, including former SDSU President Sally Roush, onetime Padres Executive Chairman Ron Fowler, Campanile Foundation Chairperson Steve Doyle and on and on. “We truly had an army of people out there, selling our story.” ![]() “Our goal was to meet with every environmental group, every community group to explain, ‘This is what SDSU wants to do with the Mission Valley property. “We agreed to 15 environmental principles that govern the river park alone.”Īsked about bird strikes, Wicker smiled again. They told us, you’ve got to have opaque windows. ![]() Some birds try to fly through buildings with clear glass where you can see all the way through. “I didn’t even know what bird strikes were. “We ran into a problem with bird strikes,” McGrory said. The two-pronged goal: Think of everything and be blindsided by nothing. Those behind the SDSU project began meeting with anyone and everyone who might have a possible stake in things. “Hundreds.”Ĭall it the bird-strike principle. “I have no idea,” said Wicker, with a laugh. How many community meetings did Wicker attend? Just as those behind Petco Park faced down years of delay and lawsuits before completely reshaping downtown, building Snapdragon Stadium and boldly envisioning MLS in it - despite the doom-and-gloom prospects - underscored the potent cocktail of checking every single box and building broad-based public buy-in. They weren’t helpful in any way whatsoever. They tried to put every roadblock in front of us. “Faulconer was against us,” said Jack McGrory, a California State University system trustee in charge of Mission Valley project oversight. The MLS carrot in the SoccerCity proposal also was buoyed by support from then-Mayor Kevin Faulconer, City Councilman Scott Sherman and World Cup and Olympic-gold-medal winner Shannon MacMillan. ![]() player and SoccerCity supporter Landon Donovan said in an interview with Soccer Today: “There is zero percent chance (MLS) will come if (San Diego State’s) Measure G passes.” “MLS listened to us, but told us our chances of being successful was sparse at best.” “We were the little red engine that could,” said Judson, who earned a master’s degree at SDSU and leads the sports group for San Diego-based developer JMI. It might be time to stop betting against the Mesa. Their stadium came in on time and on budget, nearly unheard of these days in this place. It’s been an astounding run of fortitude and sleeve-rolling that has obliterated timid excuse-making and half-measured thinking that causes cities to stagnate.įirst, San Diego State’s group wrested control of Mission Valley from rival SoccerCity in a dominant wave of voting support in November 2018. Status quo, not transformation.ĭuring a morning news conference Thursday at Snapdragon Stadium, it will be announced that San Diego has secured an MLS franchise to begin play in 2025.
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