Big East Endowments
- Thread starter fordham96
- Start date
Baseball field was basically a gift from the Mets (their minor league team needed a place to play while their new stadium was being built in Coney Island).
Money for the soccer stadium was donated by the Belson family.
Really? I never heard that before.
Below is how I always understood it:
After the 1999 season, the New York Mets purchased the St. Catharines Stompers of the New York–Penn League, planning to move them from Ontario to Brooklyn. However, the stadium for the newly minted Brooklyn Cyclones would not be ready until 2001 (nor would their affiliation contract with the Toronto Blue Jays expire until then), so the Mets decided to "park" the franchise in Queens for the 2000 season, dubbing them the Queens Kings. Striking a deal with St. John's University, the Mets built a ballpark for the Kings, then donated it to the school and the Red Storm college baseball team
Jack Kaiser Stadium - Wikipedia
Say it was decided they would do a complete test down/rebuild of CA to upgrade the facility. I wonder where the team would play home games until the new arena is complete. (assuming they can't play every game at MSG)
Pretty much on target except it was the City that made the deal. The school was working on a deal to rehabilitate and take over a baseball field on the Creedmore Psychiatric Hospital grounds while Mayor Giuliani was working with the Yankees and Mets on bringing minor league teams to the city. The Cyclone’s stadium in Brooklyn was as you said not going to be ready in time for their inaugural year and the city worked out a deal with St. John’s. The City paid for it, the Cyclones used it for their first year and their season didn’t start until the only games left to play in college baseball was the College World Series in Omaha. Local community and leagues were also able to use the field. Other private donations paid for other amenitie.
Nassau Coliseum would probably be the cheapest to rent.
Creedmoor