Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) board members will vote on a proposal to swap a stadium for land to build a new one. The plan would allow FC Cincinnati to build a new soccer facility where Stargel Stadium currently stands in the West End. The team would then build a new stadium for the school district on land along nearby Ezzard Charles Drive.
But late Friday afternoon, FC Cincinnati put out a statement saying it could not accept the school system's conditions and will look elsewhere to build a stadium.
The district on Friday afternoon released the resolution board members will vote on. It includes specific requests from FC Cincinnati, including an annual $2 million payment based on the value of a $250 million stadium. The district also wants a written community benefits agreement, and the new $10 million Stargel Stadium.
CPS spokeswoman Lauren Worley says the $2 million payment would be the tax bill under a 1999 tax abatement agreement with Cincinnati.
FC Cincinnati released a statement Friday night that makes the CPS demands moot.
"This was a once in a lifetime development opportunity for a neighborhood that wants and needs new investment, and the jobs and business opportunities that would have come with it. FC Cincinnati regrets that it will be unable to construct a stadium in the West End community and have moved our focus to Oakley and Newport. While we are disappointed we will not be neighbors with our new friends in the West End, we are committed to remaining partners working to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood," the statement reads.
"When FC Cincinnati moves forward to construct its stadium in Oakley or Newport, a tax-abated, high end CitiRama development on the proposed new Stargel Stadium site will permanently remove any development opportunities of this magnitude on the site proposed by FC Cincinnati."
The school board meets Wednesday morning at 11.
FCC Resolution -- 3-16-18 Final by WVXU News on Scribd
FCC Proposed Deferred Payment by WVXU News on Scribd
