Funny, doesn't seem like it's been 10 years.
It never does.
I'm guessing it probably does not seem like 10 years has gone by to Andy Lewis and many of the others who warned of the folly of sinking public funds into construction of a stadium on the Chester waterfront.
Lewis' insistence on seeing the books of Major League Soccer before signing off on the push to float a $30 million bond led to what at the time was the rarest of occurrences: a non-unanimous vote by the all-Republican Delaware County Council.
The bond issue passed.
More than $85 million of the $115 price tag on what would become PPL Park (now Talen Energy Stadium) was picked up by taxpayers, with the state, Delaware River Port Authority, and city of Chester also kicking in funds.
We supported the idea, but it was contingent on the word of developers Buccini/Polling Group that this was not going to be just a stadium. They had grandiose visions of a $500 million development on the Chester waterfront that would include townhouses and apartments, retail and restaurants, even a hotel and convention center.
Ten years later, there is a stadium in the shadow of the Commodore Barry Bridge.
And not much else.
We talk about it on today's editorial page.
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