THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 10, 1996 TAG: 9610100009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A15 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: Patrick Lackey
LENGTH: 78 lines
At the National Conference of Editorial Writers in Baltimore last week, a panel of experts debated whether public financing of sports stadiums is a boon or a boondoggle.
I attended the conference to see how many editorial writers smoke pipes (hardly any do; I won't have to take up the habit) and to learn about financing stadiums and arenas, in case Hampton Roads ever gets one. It could happen. Humans learned to fly.
The panel experts boomed out a clear message to a roomful of editorial writers: It matters tremendously where a stadium or arena gets built within a metropolitan region. In the right location, a stadium can be a definite boon.
There is no better example of why and how the site matters than Camden Yards, the celebrated new home of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.
It is a popular destination located in downtown Baltimore, a 12-minute stroll from the city's Inner Harbor - the Baltimore equivalent of Norfolk's Waterside. It infuses into the heart of the city tens of thousands of people who would otherwise be elsewhere.
When an Orioles game ends,fans walk to all manner of restaurants or recreational activities or shops. They don't stop spending when the final out is made in the ballpark.
Camden Yards is the pride of the whole state, not just Baltimore, and in fact is partly funded by state lottery money - not city funds.
University of Maryland Baltimore County Professor Arthur Johnson, one of the panelists, said he initially opposed Camden Yards as a bad public investment. ``I was wrong,'' he said. He had not fully appreciated what Camden Yards would mean to downtown Baltimore.
A different Baltimore Orioles stadium, seating the same number of fans but located elsewhere in the city, would have been a bad public investment, he said.
Stadiums do not pay for themselves, he said, so they must be placed where they benefit their surroundings. The more often a stadium or arena will be used, he said, the more important its site. Thus the site of a football stadium, where few games are played each year, is less important than the site of a basketball arena or baseball diamond.
A truly bad spot for a major-league arena would be the old Norfolk Tides site, within the triangle formed by I-64, Military Highway and Northampton Boulevard. When one of those games was over, there was nothing to do but get in your car and hit the road.
Harbor Park, the Tides' new home on the Elizabeth River, is gorgeous, but so far it has sparked no economic activity around it. After every game I've gone to, I've driven straight home. I'd prefer to have a large cup of coffee and thick slice pie while the traffic cleared, but where within easy walking distance would I get that?
People smarter than I may park across from Waterside, take a free shuttle bus to and from the game, and afterward hang out by the river. Maybe they grab a snack or do some shopping.
Some suburbs have used major-league stadiums as centers or focuses, around which economic activity could spring up. However, many stadiums built years ago near nothing are still near nothing.
Wherever it is, the stadium must be surrounded by commercial activity that will benefit from it. Perhaps the Virgnia Beach Oceanfront would be a good site, because so much other stuff is already there.
Naturally a big-league team brings many other benefits, notably entertainment, status and free national publicity. If Milwaukee lacked a major-league baseball team, for example, how often would you hear the city's name?
To my mind, the major drawback to having a big-league team is that its owner, sober or not, smart or not, could become a noisy giant in the region.
John A Moag, chair of the Maryland Stadium Authority and one of the panelists, warned that the 29 men and one women who own National Football League teams are strong-minded individuals who own the ``ultimate boy-toy.'' They can be tough to deal with, he said. All 30 of them in a room, he said, are like 30 Ross Perots debating.
Another panelists cautioned that a major-league team lease should be as long as the life of public bonds to finance its arena.
If an owner considering moving a franchise to Hamptons Roads ever insists on putting his or her arena in the middle of nowhere, we should have the sense to say, ``Thanks, but no thanks. We want ours where the action is.''
KEYWORDS: PROPOSED STADIUM by CNB