How much does it cost to make sure a soccer stadium gets built?
In the case of Rochester's PAETEC Park, maybe nearly $50,000.
That's how much the Rochester Rhinos and their principle owner, Frank DuRoss, donated to the campaign coffers of Republican state Senate candidates since 2000.
Nozzolio's support has been absolutely critical in the procurement of tens of millions of dollars in state grants to fund PAETEC Park's construction. In fact, Nozzolio has always been perhaps the projects biggest backer on a state level.
His help was almost surely needed after the Greater Rochester Sports Authority — an entity created in 2000 largely to see that a new soccer stadium was built — recommended against building the thing in the first place. GRSA board member Tom Frey says that after reviewing the proposal put forth by DuRoss and Rhinos management, it became clear right away that DuRoss and the Rhinos didn't have the capital to contribute to the project despite their assertions to the contrary.
"It was obvious DuRoss wasn't going to put up a penny," Frey says. "It was very clear the money had to be put forward by the state."
As a result, the GRSA board recommended to county officials that the county back out of any involvement in the construction of the soccer stadium. In fact, Frey says it was his impression that former County Executive Jack Doyle never really supported the idea anyway.
"We (the GRSA) have said from the beginning that this was a stadium put together from string and spit," Frey says.
So the proponents of the project looked elsewhere for support, and, Frey says, they found it in Nozzolio. Last year, when the team was unable to finish the stadium because the money had run out, the Rhinos went back to the state for more funding — $12 million, to be exact. However, the governor's office decided not to chip in $4 million, while $4 million earmarked by the state Assembly still hasn't arrived yet.
However, the Republican-controlled state Senate was able to come through with the $4 million it pledged. That might not be surprising given that since 2000, DuRoss has donated more than $43,000 to the coffers of various Republican state Senate candidates. That includes nearly $30,000 to Nozzolio, plus thousands more to Jim Alesi, George Maziarz and Joe Robach. It also includes a $5,000 gift to the New York Senate Republican Campaign Committee.
In addition, the Rhinos have given $6,500 to Nozzolio as well. And keep in mind that the vast majority of Nozzolio's district lies outside of Monroe County and the immediate Rochester area.
However, is all this a bad thing? Without a doubt, the Rhinos needed their own stadium, and now they have it. Should it matter that palms might have been greased to make it happen?
Besides, the stadium is now already there regardless. We have it, for good or for bad. I've always believed that the concept of a multi-purpose soccer stadium was, and still is, a good idea for Rochester, largely because the Rhinos are such a valuable asset to the community.
But just because something is a good idea doesn't mean that getting it is always possible or even feasible, and I just have the feeling that the whole soccer stadium plan just wasn't well thought through. It seems, simply, that everyone involved has just been winging it from the very beginning — that the whole project has been just string and spit.
