What Wonderland World

Louis thinks to himself that it could be a Wonderland world.

About  week and a half ago the Revere Journal published a story stating that talks have been escalating between Revere and the New England Revolution over a proposed stadium at the site of the now defunct Wonderland Dog Track.  The initial story was vague at best, however today the Boston Globe, WBUR, and FOX 25 are also reporting this story.

It has long been known that the Krafts do not want to pay for land or infrastructure but would be willing to front the construction costs for the stadium. The information coming out in the past couple of weeks is pointing towards some of the needs for the Krafts to possibly be coming to fruition. According to the Boston Globe Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo is currently negotiating with Suffolk Downs over mitigation payments as part of the proposed casino complex at the Suffolk Downs site. Suffolk Downs currently owns the Wonderland property. If Mayor Rizzo is able to negotiate for the land, it could be the land deal that the Krafts are looking for.

Revolution Stadium At Wonderland Talks Escalating

The Revere Journal is reporting that "talks regarding the building of a new soccer stadium at Wonderland have escalated quickly as of late, and the entire plan is now apparently running hand-in-hand with the casino proposal at Suffolk Downs."

According to their source

 “They have been in talks for awhile, but things are really moving quickly now and the talks are supposedly in the final stages – even though the actual plan is probably far off,”

The proposed stadium is reportedly planned to be a 15,000 seat stadium. We first reported on this in May of 2011.  Read the Full Revere Journal article here.

Walking In A Wint... err.. Revolution Wonderland?

Sources close to Revere Mayoral Candidate and City Councilor At-Large, Dan Rizzo, have informed us that within the past 2 weeks Councilor Rizzo has had a conversation with Jonathan Kraft and representatives of Kraft Sports Group about the facilities at the now-defunct Wonderland Racetrack.  We are told that arrangements are being made to tour the site and facilities within the next 6 months.  We asked the team for comment but they have nothing to say at this time.

The Wonderland site is just north of Boston and accessible by Rt. 16 and Rt. 1A as well as being accessible via the MBTA Blue Line which terminates at Wonderland. There are infrastructure concerns as the area is notorious for it's traffic problems including multiple rotaries in the area. The area is slated for a larger waterfront redevelopment as well but that seems to be delayed.

We here at TDIF feel that despite the traffic concerns this would be a good location although not as optimal as the previous Somerville site.  The site is within the Metro-Boston area, and within the "urban core", accessible by public transport, close/in diverse ethnic communities and in an area desperately needing a major project and overhaul.  We will end on these 2 words as food for thought... Beach Tailgates.