And it came amid a worldwide economic crisis that no one can ignore, not even the wealthy owners of sports teams.
"The economy is going to have an effect on everyone," league commissioner Don Garber said in an interview before the groundbreaking ceremony. "We're confident this project is not going to be impacted greatly."
The owner of the league's San Jose Earthquakes recently announced that the team would scale back plans for its new stadium. But Philadelphia team officials said yesterday that work on their stadium, which began some months ago, was proceeding on time and on budget, and that they expected that to continue.
The stadium will stand on the riverfront just south of the Commodore Barry Bridge, and be the anchor of a $500 million development that backers say will help revive downtrodden Chester. The stadium - to seat 18,634, expandable to 21,600 - is to support millions of dollars worth of entertainment, retail, residential and commercial development. The big question has been whether the sour housing and lending markets would force cutbacks in that ancillary development.
Developer Rob Buccini, a team co-owner and the cofounder of the Buccini/Pollin Group, said yesterday that the stadium project would be built as intended, except for changes in the percentage of housing units to be sold and rented. Asked if the plans for the ancillary development would be revised if the economy continued to falter, Buccini responded, "How much worse can things get?"
Government officials say they will honor their funding commitments to the stadium project. The state has promised $47 million, and Delaware County Council $30 million.
