Maryland's planners came up with an ambitious project. Nicknamed the Baltodome, the original plan was to create a facility near the city's Inner Harbor known as Camden Yards. The new stadium would host 70,000 fans for football games, 55,000 for baseball and 20,000 as an arena for hockey or basketball. For an estimated $78 million, the city would build a facility that would have kept all parties happy; Orioles owner Hoffberger, Colts owner Irsay, the Stadium Complex Authority.
However, the proposal did not receive support to pass the Maryland legislature, in spite of assurances that contributions from taxpayers would be limited strictly to city and state loans. And on February 27, 1974, Maryland's Governor Mandel pulled the plug on the idea. Orioles owner Jerold Hoffberger was blunt: "I will bow to the will of the people. They have told us what they want to tell us. First, they don't want a new park and second, they don't want a club." Robert Irsay was willing to wait. "It's not a matter of saying that there will be no stadium. It's a matter of getting the facts together so everybody is happy when they build the stadium. I'm a patient man. I think the people of Baltimore are going to see those new stadiums in New Orleans and Seattle opening in a year or two around the country, and they are going to realize they need a stadium ... for conventions and other things besides football."
Hyman Pressman, Baltimore's comptroller, was against using any public funds to build a new stadium. During the 1974 elections, Pressman had an amendment to the city's charter placed on the fall ballot. Known as Question P, the amendment called for declaring "the 33rd Street stadium as a memorial to war veterans and prohibiting use of city funds for construction of any other stadium." The measure passed 56 percent to 44 percent, and the same political motivations that had been used to upgrade the then Baltimore Stadium (Originally built in 1922) in the late 1940's and rename it Memorial Stadium, effectively destroyed any chance of a new, modern sports complex being built in Baltimore.
This was a big turning point of Robert Irsays' mindset. He was infuriated that they would not be getting there new stadium and so he took it upon himself to relocate the team to a new location in which they would have a new stadium to play in.
However, the proposal did not receive support to pass the Maryland legislature, in spite of assurances that contributions from taxpayers would be limited strictly to city and state loans. And on February 27, 1974, Maryland's Governor Mandel pulled the plug on the idea. Orioles owner Jerold Hoffberger was blunt: "I will bow to the will of the people. They have told us what they want to tell us. First, they don't want a new park and second, they don't want a club." Robert Irsay was willing to wait. "It's not a matter of saying that there will be no stadium. It's a matter of getting the facts together so everybody is happy when they build the stadium. I'm a patient man. I think the people of Baltimore are going to see those new stadiums in New Orleans and Seattle opening in a year or two around the country, and they are going to realize they need a stadium ... for conventions and other things besides football."
Hyman Pressman, Baltimore's comptroller, was against using any public funds to build a new stadium. During the 1974 elections, Pressman had an amendment to the city's charter placed on the fall ballot. Known as Question P, the amendment called for declaring "the 33rd Street stadium as a memorial to war veterans and prohibiting use of city funds for construction of any other stadium." The measure passed 56 percent to 44 percent, and the same political motivations that had been used to upgrade the then Baltimore Stadium (Originally built in 1922) in the late 1940's and rename it Memorial Stadium, effectively destroyed any chance of a new, modern sports complex being built in Baltimore.
This was a big turning point of Robert Irsays' mindset. He was infuriated that they would not be getting there new stadium and so he took it upon himself to relocate the team to a new location in which they would have a new stadium to play in.