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John Daley Reporting An abrupt turn in the long and winding story of a stadium for ReAl Salt Lake.
The Speaker of the House says the deal is dead and he may re-allocate the funding.
ReAl Salt Lake will play at Rice-Eccles Stadium next season. They planned to open their new stadium in Sandy in spring of 2008. But that's now up in the air, and the clock is ticking.
Fifteen months ago ReAL Salt Lake made its big announcement in Sandy. Despite the celebratory tone that day, many details remained unanswered.
Utah's House Speaker basked in the news that the team was coming to his town in a deal he helped engineer. But now he seems inches away from pulling hotel tax funding after telling the paper and KSL Radio's Doug Wright that the plans are dead.
The Speaker survived a reelection bid by just 20 votes, with some voters in his district frustrated over the stadium issue, and he makes note of that today.
Greg Curtis (R), Utah House Speaker: "I had an extremely close election, ok? I mean it was covered in the papers for weeks. I'm not going to change what I think is good policy. I respect that people disagree with me, but I'm not going to change it and say 'oh gosh I need to start being political in regards to making my decision.' And if it means that it's my last term so be it."
Salt Lake County officials, weighing whether to help fund the stadium, pushed up the schedule for a committee to review it today.
Joe Hatch (D), Salt Lake County Council: "Obviously he does not trust Salt Lake County and we've gotta rebuild that trust and do whatever we can to rebuild it."
Doug Willmore, Chief Administrative Officer: "The deal, the speaker is saying it may be dead. Is it dead? Not for us. We're going to continue to go through the process that the mayor laid out many months ago. We're near the end and hopefully complete that before we make a decision."
So, is the stadium deal over? The speaker points to county officials and is leaving the door slightly open.
Greg Curtis (R), Utah House Speaker: "Understand the urgency and move forward in good faith."
Calls to the speaker's office today requesting an interview were not returned. ReAL owner Dave Checketts is in town and was visiting the editorial boards of the daily papers today but declined our request for an interview. Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan says he is optimistic the deal can still get done.
The stadium deal may look like it's in trouble, but it's still alive. The county will get back the report of a consultant next week. Then a debt review committee will take a look at it before handing it over to the public officials.
It's in the hands of the county. Expect a final thumbs up or down within the next few weeks.
