I Can Be Nice Too: Excellent Town Talk Op-Ed On South Alexandria, Proposed Sports Arena
“Faithful readers know the location well. From 1908 to 1985, the foundry and machine shop specialized in the manufacture, fabrication and repair of iron, steel and other metals.
Faithful readers also know that since the foundry closed, the 6.5-acre property has been declared an EPA Superfund site and a public health hazard. It’s been on the EPA’s national priority list since 1999. Toxic chemicals on the site and in nearby canal sediment range from arsenic to zinc…..Meanwhile, some of the nearly 6,000 people who live within one mile of the site have been interviewed by environmental officers and others.”
CenLamar 
thanks for the link. this is even more reason for the downtown sports complex idea to be abandoned in favor of the downtown red river pier.
the proposed site is a toxic waste dump who wants to go and sit there and pick up who knows what? also we suspect the location also plays into our original suspicion that the whole idea is just a legal way to funnel tax money, that the only people that are going to make money off this are the engineers, architects, surveyors consultants (heh civil) and so forth then it will be conveniently abandoned and they will most likely cite its toxicity as a reason. this is a big scam.
WATER PARK !!! WATER PARK!!
Honestly, why build another sports arena when Cowboy town is sitting empty?? Crazy talk.
cowboy town is already built. there is no money to be made off the engineering, surveying, architecture etc. plus the city would have to actually operate it.
Who is going to operate the NEW sports arena??
And what is the coliseum again?
only the clowns that run this city would propose building a public facility on a toxic waste site. it’s actually hilarious and should be used as a thread for a really funny movie. steve martin as the mayor, chris rock as myron lawson, danny devito as tommy david.
Yeah Alexandria really needs a sports arena considering that the Warthogs and the Rangers went under.
There is no doubt that site needs to be cleaned up. But as everyone else has mentioned, any of us with a lick of common sense can see that this area cannot support a facility like that, and even if we could, that is not an ideal spot.
I say we divert part of the river through downtown and make our own riverwalk! (a la san antonio) Maybe even build a sheltered marina, I don’t know. Then people will really want to live in these new condos. Crazy idea? yes. extremely expensive??? sure. totally awesome??? yep. Fort Worth, TX is about to do the same thing with the Trinity River.
Rangers moved to Beaumont and are alive and well as the Beaumont Drillers. Even have hosted a championship game this year.
May I say that I saw this coming and really hoped that my info was wrong. The council is bound and determined to shove this sports thing through. We Saw That, I’m willing to bet a lunch or a few pints that it happens. Can’t risk more as I’m still hoping to someone with sense to put a stop to the whole affair.
Lamar, I think you can find out who is the prime mover property wise and who is in line to head up this project.
KCS owns the property. Until they decide to spend the money, the property won’t be cleaned. The city could have applied for a brownfield assistance grant last year to help out, but didn’t even write the thing!!!!
KCS won’t budge until all of the surrounding neighbors agree on what level they want the property “cleaned to” – residential, commercial or industrial. As long as the site is being monitored for run off contamination, which it is and has been, and KCS is following EPA’s guidelines to control the contamination to within the boundaries of the site, they can let it sit there and continue to be an overgrown waste as long as they want.