Eagles may threaten to fly the coop

Long known as one of the basement-dwellers of the National Football League, the Philadelphia Eagles have been flying high so far in this young season. But Birds fans looking to watch their team make future Super Bowl drives may have to look a whole lot further than the intersection of Broad and Pattison streets, team officials said yesterday. At an afternoon press conference in Center City, Eagles Executive Vice President Joe Banner hinted that the team may have to consider moving to another city should they be forced to keep playing in the dilapidated Veteran's Stadium. "We're going to continue to exhaust every option available to us to build a new stadium, and until we've exhausted every one of them, we're not going to look into [moving]," he added. In recent months, the pressure to finalize plans for two new stadiums -- one for the Eagles and one for baseball's Phillies -- has grown tremendously as the calendar approaches November 30. If no deal is reached by that date, the city will be contractually obligated to purchase the Eagles' new South Philadelphia practice facility -- at a cost of $23 million -- and put an additional $80 million into infrastructural repairs to the Vet. All of that can be avoided, Banner said, if Mayor John Street and City Council agree on a site location and financing plan within the established timeframe. Banner even went so far as to publicize the plan his organization is proposing to the city. "We think we have a special vision here," Banner said. "It's the most aggressive proposal any team has ever made to any city in the country to get a stadium deal done." According to the proposal, the city would provide the land at the existing T-Warehouse site adjacent to Veteran's Stadium, and the construction costs would be footed jointly by the state and by the team. Banner said that the Eagles' estimated $320 million contribution is an unprecedented sum for a franchise to offer. "We'll have the largest public contribution and the most public-friendly deal in NFL history," he said. But despite the team's insistence on meeting the November 30 deadline -- a date he says is necessary so that the new facility may be ready for play in 2003 -- it appears that other factors may push back a final vote well past that date. Street has said that no stadium deal would go through unless separate agreements are reached with the Eagles and the Phillies simultaneously. And while the Eagles appear convinced on the viability of the South Philadelphia site, the mayor's proposed Phillies site in Chinatown at 12th and Vine streets has met with tremendous opposition from community leaders. A downtown baseball stadium had been a goal of former Mayor Ed Rendell, who said it would help revitalize Center City. But downtown sites have faced passionate opposition in neighborhoods such as Chinatown -- stalling the planning and building processes. Such opposition -- as well as the mayor's insistence that the stadium issue not be discussed until the Philadelphia teachers' contract is settled -- could force a major compromise on the plan. "We support new stadiums in the city of Philadelphia," Street said as he took the microphone from Banner toward the end of the press conference. "But I believe it is our responsibility to act within the political environment that is offered us." Street said that he still hasn't been in office long enough to have the time to properly deal with the stadium issue. Street was inaugurated 10 months ago. "What I ask is that the people give us an opportunity to get this done," the mayor said. "I would like for you to give this mayor [a few] months -- to November 30 or thereabouts -- for a chance to get this done." But when asked what issues were holding up completion of a deal between the city and the two teams, Street said he couldn't provide concrete answers. "I can't tell you that," Street said. "It really is true that on some of this you are going to have to trust us." Officials from the Phillies said that while they have been frustrated that no official negotiations have taken place in several months, they were enthused that the mayor feels that a plan by November 30 is still feasible. "We're encouraged that the mayor thinks [November 30] is still an opportunity," Phillies President David Montgomery said. Montgomery added that the Phillies continue to prefer that their new stadium be built in the South Philadelphia area that currently houses the Vet.