Читать книгу No Money, No Beer, No Pennants. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression онлайн

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For the stadium to be built, a bond issue had to be submitted to Cleveland voters in the November general election. Hopkins estimated the bond interest and carrying charges would amount to $155,000 for the first year. He wanted Bradley and the other Indians owners to pay for the bulk of it with additional money coming from football games and world-class boxing events. Hopkins explained to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “When we go to the people for a bond issue we want to be able to say this won’t cost you a cent. We want to know in advance that the income from the stadium will pay the carrying charges on the bonds.”

It is likely the opening of the Terminal Tower gave the city politicians plenty of optimism about a new project. If that massive structure could be built, why not a new stadium? Civic pride was taking hold in Cleveland. It stood to reason that the time was now to take on another large-scale project. Perhaps the momentum had indeed swung in the city manager’s favor.

Though public support seemed to be within reach, Hopkins had some major obstacles to overcome. The largest was the right-of-way the railroad companies enjoyed at the lakefront. At present, the rail people could build track on much of the land needed for the new stadium. He required their approval to set aside the area for construction. All things considered, it was an ambitious plan. Even if the bond issue passed and the railroad barons gave their okay, Hopkins still had other battles to fight. Most importantly, Alva Bradley needed to be on board for the lease agreement. Full support from the city council had to be achieved. If Hopkins was successful on all these counts, the voters in Cuyahoga County were still a big question mark. Was a new stadium really necessary? League Park had been doing fine for thirty-seven years. The park at 66th and Lexington had good views, was easy to get to, and brought in revenue to the businesses located in and around the field. For years, the neighborhood kids prowled Lexington Avenue in hopes of snagging baseballs that sailed over the towering right field wall. They would be out of luck if the Indians moved to the lakefront. City Manager Hopkins had let the genie out of the bottle. He needed to be exceedingly shrewd in getting his wishes granted.