Kassing, Wolff agree stadium deal is dead
Kyle Hansen
Issue date: 4/23/07 Section: News
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There will be no new stadium for San Jose State University football and Major League Soccer, the university announced on Thursday.
The news comes after months of negotiations between university President Don Kassing and developer Lew Wolff fell through.
Larry Carr, the associate vice president for government and community relations, said that the deal did not work because Kassing and Wolff were unable to agree on the way revenue from the new facility would be shared.
"They agreed this afternoon that they are not going to reach a deal that was going to work," Carr said on Thursday.
Kassing said that while the new stadium did not work out, the university continues to work to improve South Campus.
"We were impressed with the creative idea from Lew Wolff, but the economics did not work out for us," Kassing said. "It made us think about a lot of things - we may look at other ways to renovate the stadium."
Students had mixed reaction to the news. Leone Iosefa Jr., a sophomore majoring in international business and Spanish, said that a new stadium is not really needed.
"I don't think it matters for the university," he said. "Everybody thinks of Spartan Stadium and you go there to see Spartan football. I think it helps us preserve our identity as San Jose State to have our own stadium."
Hector Garcia, a senior business management and hospitality management major, said that a new stadium would have helped the university.
"It is an old stadium and perhaps a new stadium would attract more fans," he said. "San Jose State is a decent team now, a new stadium would help the program and fan support would increase."
Even without the new stadium, the university is still working with the city to improve South Campus and the surrounding area.
The city and university have a current agreement to develop a plan to improve the area, including Municipal Stadium, Kelley Park and Logitech Ice.
"We will go back to those discussions with the city about South Campus," Carr said. "In regards to the stadium, we are staying in Spartan Stadium."
The news comes after months of negotiations between university President Don Kassing and developer Lew Wolff fell through.
Larry Carr, the associate vice president for government and community relations, said that the deal did not work because Kassing and Wolff were unable to agree on the way revenue from the new facility would be shared.
"They agreed this afternoon that they are not going to reach a deal that was going to work," Carr said on Thursday.
Kassing said that while the new stadium did not work out, the university continues to work to improve South Campus.
"We were impressed with the creative idea from Lew Wolff, but the economics did not work out for us," Kassing said. "It made us think about a lot of things - we may look at other ways to renovate the stadium."
Students had mixed reaction to the news. Leone Iosefa Jr., a sophomore majoring in international business and Spanish, said that a new stadium is not really needed.
"I don't think it matters for the university," he said. "Everybody thinks of Spartan Stadium and you go there to see Spartan football. I think it helps us preserve our identity as San Jose State to have our own stadium."
Hector Garcia, a senior business management and hospitality management major, said that a new stadium would have helped the university.
"It is an old stadium and perhaps a new stadium would attract more fans," he said. "San Jose State is a decent team now, a new stadium would help the program and fan support would increase."
Even without the new stadium, the university is still working with the city to improve South Campus and the surrounding area.
The city and university have a current agreement to develop a plan to improve the area, including Municipal Stadium, Kelley Park and Logitech Ice.
"We will go back to those discussions with the city about South Campus," Carr said. "In regards to the stadium, we are staying in Spartan Stadium."
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