St. Louis soccer stadium still not at full power after flood. Fix will cost millions.

ST. LOUIS—St. Louis’ new soccer stadium is still not operating at full power nearly two months after a broken electrical pipe and a rainstorm postponed the inaugural game at Centene Stadium.

A spokesperson for St. Louis City SC, the new Major League Soccer franchise, told the Post-Dispatch on Thursday that the team is close to resolving its issues and could announce more in “the near future.”

Sources close to the situation at the $461 million stadium, which spans an entire city block on Market Street near Union Station, said the team is spending millions of dollars to fix the issue. It brought in transformers to provide power until permanent equipment, which is on back order, arrives. A test run was scheduled for Friday and could determine whether the stadium could host an exhibition game next month. The MLS season starts in February.

“We are in the process of re-energizing the portion of the stadium that was adversely affected,” said spokesman John Gasparoni. “Our fans can be confident the team is doing everything possible to get full electricity back at the stadium as soon as possible, and we believe we are close to a resolution.”

A fully operational Centene Stadium, which was almost entirely privately financed, is crucial not only for the team but for the stadium to live up to its billing: To anchor the redevelopment of a downtown area that has languished for years. The 22,500-seat venue has canopies designed to magnify noise and a pitch designed to get fans as close as possible to the action. It advertises food and drink from some of the best restaurants in the metro area, curated by one of the region’s most celebrated chefs. It’s surrounded by plazas, art installations and pop-up shops designed to appeal to tourists and residents alike.

But it needs more power first.

The trouble began on Friday, Sept. 2, when a city contractor installing a street lighting conduit on the west side of 22nd Street damaged two conduits that included a private electrical run between the stadium and a VIP parking lot.

Josh Kambitch, an engineer with the city Board of Public Service, reported to superiors that the run was not marked or identified through MO One Call/Dig Rite, the utility line locating service, and that no one with the stadium construction staff had told the city contractor where it was.

The city contractor offered to repair the damaged conduit before close of business that Friday. But Kambitch said stadium contractors denied the offer and said their electrical contractor would handle it instead.

On Saturday, however, it rained. The ditch with the damaged conduit filled with water, according to city records. The broken conduits piped rainwater straight into the stadium’s communications and electrical room.

The next week, Kambitch informed superiors that the water had fried a couple of main breakers for the stadium. He said he’d been told the stadium was on generator power and that the team might have to cancel plans for Sept. 18, when the stadium was scheduled to see its first match, a game featuring its developmental squad.

A week later, the team moved the match to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Since then, visitors to the stadium have noticed a semi-truck-sized backup generator running. Officials have said they could host a game, although it would not be ideal.

But other options could be limited. SIUE’s Ralph Korte Stadium has permanent seating for just 3,000 people. Nearby St. Louis University could accommodate about 6,000 — but City SC has about twice that many season-ticket holders, at least some of whom have been waiting for more than two years to see a game.

Busch Stadium and The Dome at America’s Center could easily fit all the fans. But the soccer team would have to work around the Cardinals’ schedule at Busch, and it would cost millions of dollars to install natural grass at the Dome, the preferred surface for MLS.

Tom Timmerman of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.