Play by Play: Charlotte Knights’ Not-So-Excellent Uptown Adventure
Here's a play by play of the soap opera below
The concept seemed simple: Take a minor league baseball team bearing our city’s name, seen languishing just over the border in Fort Mill, S.C., and move it into shiny new digs in uptown. Yet when you add to the mix a complicated land swap stadium proposal involving the city, county, and school system, plus a nasty and prolonged recession and a one-man legal filibuster, you end up with a bewildering saga with as many dramatic twists and turns as a season of Glee. We’ve charted the major plot points of the soap opera below.
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December 2005– Charlotte Center City Partners unveils complex uptown land swap stadium plan for the Third Ward.
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May 2007– Attorney/real estate developer Jerry Reese files two lawsuits to block plan. Proposes major league team/stadium instead.
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October 2007– Reese’s first two lawsuits dismissed. He vows to appeal.
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January 2008– County, city, and school board approve simplified stadium plan.
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January 2008– Reese files third lawsuit.
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March 2008- Reese files fourth lawsuit.
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May 2008– Reese’s third lawsuit dismissed.
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July 2008– Reese’s fourth lawsuit dismissed.
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October 2008– Stadium deal placed on hold due to weak economy/legal actions. Reese files fifth lawsuit.
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May 2009– Reese loses appeals of first two lawsuits. His fifth lawsuit dismissed.
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November 2009– Reese loses appeal of fourth lawsuit.
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June 2010– Reese loses appeal of third lawsuit.
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March 2011– Reese loses appeal of fifth lawsuit.
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July 2011– New stadium deadlines set by county: Knights need stadium completed by spring 2014 or lose property lease.
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February 2012– Deadlines looming. City hints at contributing up to $11 million to the project. Reese threatens another lawsuit.
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March 2012– At press time, news reports have Knights formally requesting city subsidy to build uptown stadium.
