View Single Post
  #58  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2008, 5:30 AM
innov8's Avatar
innov8 innov8 is offline
Kodachrome
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: livinginurbansac.blogspot
Posts: 5,079
Arco Park Baseball Stadium


Photo by Ryan@CU

In 1988 the foundation was being poured for the 40,000-seat Arco Park baseball
stadium next to Arco Arena in North Natomas. The Sacramento
Sports Association had a sponsorship agreement with the Atlantic Richfield
Co. to support this new stadium worth $25 million to $35 million and would
have enable the association to complete construction of its sports complex
if a major-league franchise was found to fill it.

In 1989 the Sacramento City Council voted 9-0 to provide
$50 million in public money to bring the Los Angeles Raiders to Sacramento.
In the end, Raiders' owner Al Davis decided to stay put, and construction on
the stadium halted as Lukenbill and Benvenuti's Sacramento Sports
Association buckled under millions of dollars in debt. Seattle First National
Bank repossessed the partially completed facility.

In 1992 refund checks went out for the "Piece of the Park' stadium fund.
More than $2 million in refunds were mailed to approximately 1,200 sports
fans who hoped to reserve space at the unfinished Arco Park stadium.
Sacramento businessman Fred Anderson said it wasn't appropriate to keep
the public's money while he completed the purchase.

In the end, the SSA was not able to lure either a MLB or NFL team to
Sacramento. SSA partners Joe Benvenuti, Gregg Lukenbill and Fred Anderson
who had controlling interest in construction stopped construction with
approximately 20 percent completed and several million dollars worth of
concrete for a stadium next to Arco Arena.

I could not find any renderings of the proposed Arco Park, if anyone has one,
could you please post it… thanks.

Last edited by innov8; Nov 19, 2008 at 9:49 PM.
Reply With Quote