Orlando Will Condemn Church to Build New Soccer Stadium

Fans fill Church Street in Orlando before a rally for a Major League Soccer official announcement a expansion franchise agreement with Orlando City Soccer at Cheyenne Saloon. (David Manning-USA TODAY Sports)

The city of Orlando finds itself in a predicament. The USL PRO soccer team, Orlando City SC, will become part of MLS in 2015, but one of the prerequisites was that a new stadium be built. After already spending $8.3 million in land purchases, the city of Orlando needs only one more piece of land they need before the work starts, and it belongs to a church.

Built in 1982, the family-owned Faith Deliverance Temple is surrounded by property already intended for a new soccer stadium. The church sits a few blocks away from the Amway Center where the NBA’s Orlando Magic play their home games, and would be a suitable spot to construct the new soccer grounds.

As you could expect, the church doesn’t want to leave. The city offered the church $1.5 million for the property, which is more than double for the near $700,000 appraisal. Pastor LeAndrew Shack turned it down. The counter-offer submitted asked for $35 million cash plus the request that the city buy and renovate a new property for the church on the West side of Orlando. The counter-offer was based off a purchase in 2007 where the city spent nearly $35 million buying land from a downtown church in order to build the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

“[The offer] wouldn’t even be enough to rebuild what we have, at what it costs today,” Shack said. “How is that fair?”

It’s a tough situation for both parties. Both have an investment in the area, the city already spending money with plans to improve the area and its economy, while the church has a congregation to consider and a 32 year of history in the community. The city is trying to work with the church ownership, but the church is asking for more than what the city is willing to give.

“We’ve tried to be as reasonable as we possibly can be,” said Mayor Buddy Dyer. “But a counter-offer of [nearly] $40 million for a $700,000 piece of property, we don’t think is being reasonable.”

The original offer of $1.5 million is no longer on the table. On December 17th, another offer was presented offering $945,000 for the land with the city giving the church 30 days to make their decision. Now that time’s up, and the city is moving into action. After the all the negotiation attempts have fallen short, the city is set to condemn the building and take the property through eminent domain, which would require a judge to determine the compensation that the church would receive.

It is a rough turn of events for the mostly African American community, but their is a silver lining. The locals deals with joblessness and a high poverty rate, but a new business like a stadium could help the economy of the entire area, contributing to the life of the nearby residents. But the word is that the recent arrival of the Amway Center which started construction nearly 6 years ago.

Personally, I find the situation to be somewhat simple, but I do say it with some trepidation. Growing up as a Christian my entire life, I was taught that a church should be more than just a building, it should be a collection of people with similar faith and belief. A place of worship is just that, a place. I also the understand when the Faith Deliverance Temple tries to make some kind of a profit off of this. A church relies solely on the money received from donations, so a chance like this could have potentially made them fiscally sound for years to come, but it appears they’ve missed their chance.

The growth of the economy, not the game of soccer, is the main reason I’ve decided where I stand. Sports are fantastic — there are few things I like discussing more than a good game — but when looking at the big picture, sports should not be prioritized above the lives and culture of the people. But this isn’t entirely about recreation over religion; the growth of the Orlando economy and community is being stalled by the last piece of the puzzle.

On a lighter note, maybe the Orlando City soccer fans should be worried. This kinda sounds like how curses are started. One hundred years without a championship or a new stadium in the MLS? Maybe they better start praying.