Potential FCC stadium at Newport’s Ovation site part of council discussion; no meetings with FCC

By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter

For the past several months, reports have surfaced that the FC Cincinnati soccer club could eventually call Newport its permanent residence if it’s awarded a franchise in the Major League Soccer expansion.

In addition, FC Cincinnati has revealed plans for a 21,000-seat, privately funded stadium priced at $200 million, with the intent of the facility being built in Newport’s west end by the riverfront if the city is chosen.

At Monday night’s Newport city commission meeting, the potential situation was forcefully addressed by resident Randy Pollins during the public forum.

“That area down by the river, that prime piece of real estate should not be a stadium for FC Cincinnati,” Pollins said. “The traffic would be a nightmare with 20,000 fans. I believe they should have retail and condos, like the original plans. It would be a bad idea for [FC Cincinnati] to be in Newport.”

Pollins pointed out that several media outlets have continued reporting the Newport site is under consideration, and he wanted answers from the leadership of the city.

“I live right by it, and that piece of land isn’t that big anyway,” Pollins said following the meeting. “There’s only like 20-something games a year anyway. In my opinion, it would be a very bad idea to have a stadium there.”

Newport Mayor Jerry Peluso chuckled afterward when asked about sit-down meetings with FC Cincinnati. “Yes, I have,” Peluso said of his contact with officials of the soccer club. “[FC Cincinnati general manager] Jeff Berding said, ‘Mayor, it was nice to meet you.’ And that was the extent of it.”

Peluso added: “No, we’ve never sat down and talked with them. They said Newport’s name has come up quite often and that they’re interested in the Newport site. That was it. We have no news to share.”

Newport city manager Thomas Fromme echoed Peluso’s sentiments about FC Cincinnati’s potential relocation to the Ovation site in Newport’s west end.

“I don’t have any thoughts on it, because we’ve really never had any in-depth conversations with FC Cincinnati,” Fromme said. “I met with some representatives for them many months ago, but it was basically just an introductory discussion.

“To be fair about it, we already have a TIF (Tax Incremental Financing) in place for the Ovation site. We established that back in 2007, so we didn’t have to do anything from a political point of view. If they would ever come forward with a definitive plan, they would just have to comply with any zoning that’s already in place.”

But Fromme also added that a sports franchise would fit in with the vision of the Ovation site.

“The Ovation zone is a riverfront-improvement district, so entertainment or sports venues would be an acceptable use for that area,” he said. “From our perspective, though, until they come forward with any kind of plan, we don’t have any insights or comments about it.”

In other meeting items Monday night:

• Newport recognized retiring police officer Chris Gallichio, who has headed up the city’s Canine Unit for much of his 23 years of service. Newport’s Canine Unit performs tasks such as building searches, crowd control, tracking, locating both criminals and evidence, and the detection of illegal drugs.

Newport Chief of Police Thomas Collins praised Gallichio and related a humorous story regarding a lost hat that once belonged to the retiring officer, admitting he in fact gave it away to calm a tense situation years earlier. As a retirement gift, Collins presented Gallichio with a new cap to replace the lost hat.

• Attorney John Hayden gave a presentation detailing results of the property task force and reported Newport has collected a total of $178,000 in delinquencies.

The board of commissioners will convene again in a caucus meeting on April 9 at 7 p.m.