St. Louis Cardinals' Ball Park Village UPDATE

[StL_Dan]

Ballpark Village is not home free yet
By Jake Wagman
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/23/2007

May 22, 2007--The International Bowling Hall of Fame stands on the northwest corner of the proposed Ball Park Village site.
( Laurie Skrivan/P-D)

ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals insist their ambitious Ballpark Village is still on track to break ground later this year, but some potential obstacles are looming.

— The state still must sign off on millions of dollars in public subsidies.

— Other downtown projects could emerge as competition.

— And then there's the question of where to put 5,000 years of bowling history. Advertisement

The vision for the $387 million entertainment district calls for most of it to be built on the crater that was the old Busch Stadium — property owned by the team. The rest of the site is held by the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, a tenpins shrine that traces the sport as far back as ancient Egypt.

Obtaining the museum property is a key step for Ballpark Village, a long-awaited project that, despite millions in pledged public financing and years of discussion, has yet to show any physical signs of progress.

Even so, Bill DeWitt III, the team's senior vice president for business development, said construction will begin as planned — in late summer or early fall.

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