It  took six months of bargaining but the dreams of many soccer fans in Minnesota have come true. A Major League Soccer team is coming and they will be right down the street from us, on the corner of University and Snelling. For some, this may not be huge deal in the sense that they are not soccer fans, but it will be a big boost to our neighborhood, both aesthetically and financially. With the arrival of the new team, they will bring with them a new soccer-specific stadium and facilities.

We at the Oracle would like to welcome the Minnesota United to the neighborhood as we are excited to see a new venue so close to home. Ever since the Saints left our community for Lowertown last spring, our neighborhood has needed something to draw people to the area beyond local shops and businesses. With the new stadium, Snelling will get a facelift with new shops and restaurants likely to appear, making the corner of Snelling and University a more bumping intersection than ever. Mayor Coleman spoke of the local impact when announcing the deal, saying, “A soccer stadium will provide an important catalyst for the redevelopment of the entire area—creating jobs, spurring housing and new commercial opportunities, and building on our commitment to transit oriented development.”

The stadium which will be built at the old tax exempt Metro Transit bus barn, which is behind Big Top Liquors, will hold close to 20,000 people at full capacity and will offer more to the neighborhood than just soccer as concerts and other events can also take place at the new 120 million dollar venue.

The additional traffic during game days won’t be pleasant, but the added businesses that surround the area will certainly make living close to Hamline an overall better experience. We will be just blocks away from the new stadium, making it possible to supply our school business majors with sports management degrees and a healthy allotment of job opportunities.

Construction for the new stadium is slated to begin next May or June and the soccer team should be able to move into their permanent home in Spring 2018. The Minnesota United franchise is set to join MLS in 2017, making it necessary for the club to find a temporary home for one season.

Once open, we hope the new stadium will be a treasured jewel that helps reinvigorate and clean up Midway. It’s not uncommon for professional stadiums to be built in rougher areas of town and cities as they tend to have cheaper land available and get the area cleaned up with an increased police presence, more local business opportunities and added tourism. A fairly recent example of this is when the Verizon Center (formerly MCI Center) was constructed in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown. At the time in the 1990’s, it was one of the roughest part of the city, constantly crime-riden. Now it’s one of the nicest parts of Washington.