It is that gauzy, feel-good dream that Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts is counting on, at least in part, to sell the idea of a stadium that would cost the city a minimum of $15 million to $20 million just for the land and Salt Lake County property owners between $30 million and $45 million for half the cost of the edifice, depending on whether it comes with a retractable roof.

The dream is nice and pristine, but the reality isn't nearly so. And it is reality that should guide city and county elected leaders to conclude that, without any guarantee that such a raid on the public purse would pay sufficient dividends, Checketts should try to raise the money himself. Or, he should be asked to prove the franchise can establish and sustain popularity at the box office in its first two seasons at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The proposed Salt Lake City stadium site is the 10-acre block between 600 South and 700 South and between Main Street and West Temple, mostly owned by wealthy hotelier Earl Holding. City officials say an initial estimate of $12.5 for the land did not take into account the cost of razing or relocating existing buildings and that the real cost will be upwards of $20 million. Add to that the $1.2 million cost of a new TRAX station and the significant money the city would shell out to stimulate development around the stadium in the form of restaurants, retail, housing, perhaps a public park and a convention center.

Checketts argues that most sports venues are built with some public money and that, in addition to the $13.5 million he has paid for the franchise and for marketing, Real Salt Lake will foot half the cost of the stadium and build a parking garage nearby. He contends the stadium would transform the south part of the city's downtown from the homely collection of parking lots, boarded-up buildings and auto dealerships it is today.

No doubt. But what happens if the 22,000-seat stadium isn't drawing the expected crowds at its 20 or so home games a year, or the MLS decides, as it did in 2002, to reduce the number of its franchises, or the league itself finally goes belly-up? Salt Lake County taxpayers would be the proud half-owners of a former professional soccer stadium.

We buy into the dream of a soccer stadium in Salt Lake City or in Murray, where a much larger site is on offer from that city. But reality dictates that Real Salt Lake shoulder the cost, and the risk, of building its own house in case the dream later turns into a nightmare.