D.C. United and its fans are still in a state of limbo after three years of unsuccessful negations in regards to if and where a new stadium will be built for the Washington D.C. based soccer team.
Since 2007, D.C. United has met with both D.C. and Maryland officials in hopes of building a new stadium to call their own only to be turned down by both potential proprietors.
“The current status on a new home for D.C. United’s new stadium is still underway,” said Doug Hicks, D.C. United’s vice president of communications. “Mr. (Kevin) Payne, D.C. United’s President is in talks with several jurisdictions at the moment,” Hicks added.
RFK Stadium has housed D.C. United since 1996; its lease expires in 2010.
“I can not go into detail as to who Mr. Payne is speaking with and any other future plans of the stadium. However, negations are happening,” said Hicks.
This time around D.C. United’s president and CEO Kevin Payne will be handling the negations instead of Victor MacFarlane. In May, MacFarlane who served as co-managing partner sold his ownership stake in D.C. United to friend and co-managing partner Will Chang.
But Payne seems to be having just as much luck as MacFarlane had in securing a place for the team to build its new stadium.
In July, Payne met with Councilman Jack Evans, D-Ward 2 and congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., to re-discuss plans to build a new stadium in the District. No progress was made.
Initial negations by MacFarlane to build a stadium in D.C. along the Anacostia River as apart of Mayor Adrian Fenty’s redevelopment plan for D.C.’s Anacostia Park area fell through in 2007.
May of this year, Prince George’s County Council voted unanimously in an 8 – 0 vote against the construction of a new soccer stadium in Prince George’s County. Originally MacFarlane had announced that D.C. United would be leaving the District and moving to Maryland February of this year.
Financing concerns caused the Prince George’s County Council to make a hasty about-face and withdraw its support for the new stadium.
