Politics & Government

City Will Look for Land Where Pro Soccer Stadium Could be Built

The Elk Grove City Council voted unanimously to explore the idea building a place for a Major League Soccer or North American Soccer League team to play.

Clarification: A previous version of this article said a Tweet from Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis was referencing the soccer stadium discussion; that is not the case, Davis said.

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Elk Grove is on its way to building a professional soccer stadium, although many hurdles still need to be cleared.

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According to various media reports, the Elk Grove City Council on Wednesday voted to continue looking into the process of building a stadium–which could cost up to $100 million and be funded entirely by the city–and finding a team to fill it.

The city will now look for 120 acres of land on which an arena could be built, and take the community's pulse on the topic.

Find out what's happening in Elk Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The city currently has a contract with investment and negotiating group Northern California Soccer, led by Former State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez.

Youth soccer players showed up in force at Wednesday's city council meeting to voice their support for an arena, but the city's plan faces critics concerned about the massive price tag.

"I guarantee, if you are 25 percent off, we're going bankrupt–and that's nuts," resident Tom Waltman told the council, according to News10.

Vice Mayor Steve Detrick said he wouldn't support an arena plan if it couldn't be made cost-neutral to the city.

"All debt would have to have a conservative revenue stream so that there is no ongoing expense to the city," Detrick said in an email to Patch.

The morning after the meeting, Mayor Gary Davis tweeted a quote from Oscar Wilde: "A cynic is a man(person) who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing."

UPDATE: In an email to Patch, Davis said his quote was not meant to be connected to the soccer stadium discussion.

"It is a statement referring to how many view government and government officials," Davis said.

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What do you think of this proposed soccer arena? Should the city move forward with this idea? Tell us in the comments section below.

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