bbbbbbooooooooooooooo!!!
The plan Thursday was unveiled with flourish -- a site and impact study for a proposed $31.8 million sports and entertainment complex in downtown Augusta, on prime riverfront real estate next to the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame's Botanical Gardens. The centerpiece of the development would be a new 4,000-seat stadium for the Augusta GreenJackets minor-league baseball team.
Mayor Deke Copenhaver is very excited about this plan, and his excitement is contagious. And we have long admired his can-do spirit, diligence and energy.
But in this case, something should be said for energy conservation.
What's the rush?
No one should view the development potential of this riverfront property through a microscopic window of opportunity that will disappear in the blink of an eye. It's not necessary to get immediately behind the idea of a multiuse stadium complex if you support sound, beneficial development of that land.
Does that mean a stadium never will be built there? Not necessarily. But such a proposal needs a harder, longer look than is offered in the plan's budget, marketing and financial analysis that was released Thursday.
The multiuse stadium complex concept has gained popularity in recent years among cities desperate to revitalize their downtowns. Augusta officials who have visited these facilities in these cities came away impressed. But complexes or stand-alone stadiums in other cities came to life under circumstances different from Augusta's.
Take Greensboro, N.C. The city's First Horizon Park opened there in 2006 -- and they used 100-percent private funding to build it. Where will the money come from for the Augusta project? Nobody precisely knows yet. Bonds? Public-private partnership? It's still up in the air.
Also, the former Greensboro Bats baseball team was threatening to leave town if the city couldn't come up with a new facility. No such threat exists in Augusta for the Jackets, whose owner, Cal Ripken, thought enough of the Jackets' current stadium to spend $400,000 renovating it.
Take Durham, N.C. In 1995, the local government opened a new park for its baseball team, the Durham Bulls. The city is recording great success with it. But that success could be best attributed to the Bulls' lofty Class AAA minor-league status and the fact that the Bulls are arguably the most famous minor-league franchise around today.
Greenville, S.C., built Fluor Field at the West End for its Greenville Drive minor-league franchise -- thanks to $12 million from the Drive's major-league affiliate, the Boston Red Sox. Also, like Greensboro's new stadium, it opened only in 2006. That's too recent to render an assessment that such an idea could work in Augusta for the long term.
As a whole, the history of these small and mid-sized baseball stadiums have not been good. Look no further than Aberdeen, Md., a city still crushed under millions of dollars of debt and interest payments that will take a decade or more to pay off -- and its stadium has operated at a $1 million loss each year since 2001, despite being full every game.
Supporters of a new stadium complex for Augusta say that the facility would be a year-round money-maker because of planned commercial components surrounding the ballpark.
But Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., has said that stadiums themselves don't spur economic activity. So why consider a ballpark there at all? There are many kinds of development that could suit that piece of riverfront property.
What, for example, would be wrong with putting residential dwellings there? A strong argument could be made that Augusta needs more people living downtown to keep them downtown. That is a keystone for sound development in our city center.
The idea of a baseball stadium complex shouldn't be leapt at until a full, thorough consideration of options can be examined for the property. The study presented Thursday specifically was a feasibility study for a sports entertainment complex. But has a broad-reaching, objective study ever been done to find out overall what the best use would be for that land? If there hasn't been, there should be.
If a new baseball stadium must be built -- and it really should be left to the voters to decide -- then put it where there will be adequate parking. This latest study's assertion that there are enough parking spaces at the currently suggested location still leaves us unconvinced.
We must go slow and make sure we're doing the right thing here. If not, it could be a costly mistake for which the taxpayers are going to have to make up if the city defaults on bonds.
Anyone who wants to help make Augusta thrive shouldn't mind taking some risks. But there's a huge financial risk and a lot of probabilities working against Augusta in executing this venture successfully here and now.
Whatever is built on that riverfront property must be an economic home run, not a strikeout.
Comments
bbbbbbooooooooooooooo!!!
There is some thought there you know. I know that the city is asking for 20-30 million for all taxpayers to dish out for a stadium that only a windfall may attend at one time, can we be assured that people are going to be able to run it better than the people who were fired from the other stadium when they could not keep their hands out of the till???
Now this editorial makes sense. Someone actually did some research into other "publicly funded" entertainment complexes and found out the truth...THEY DON'T MAKE MONEY! If this venture is profitable, let it be privately funded. And, hey, coco: keep going to thisrty Thursdays at the old stadium...it will help your game!
Adequate parking downtown for the baseball games? That's ridiculous. There isn't enought parking there unless all the spaces are empty before game time. I have yet to see downtwon parking empty at any time. Besides, Augustans are extremely lacadaisical when it comes to supporting anything worth while. I attended the opening game of the Augusta Colts and many, many seats were empty. Arena football is a great way to spend an evening, the players are talented, and Coach Bubba Diggs is a great leader for his players. Will the new entertainment complex be run efficiently or will it die a slow and painful death from poor mangement and black/white bickering like the James Brown Arena? Leave the baseball park where it is. At least many fans show up for the games and have a pleasant time there. We almost lost the Green Jackets years ago. A poorly managed multi-plex may cause them to pack up and leave for good. I just hope Augusta is able to hold on to the Colts.
Obviously the writer of this LTE is not a real estate developer, rising politician or banker. Deke, Blanchard & Calhoun, The Boardman Twins and West Lake executive suites, no doubt.
ah, for the thursdays at a local south augusta bbq resturant where bob best would hold court in the back room. laughter and good will abounded. politics were much simplier. whatever mr. bob wants. what do you think mr cheeks. yes sir mr bob. what do you think mr padget. yes sir mr bob.
this great facility will be managed by the "coliseum commission" after it changes it name to "board of entertainment in augusta and tourism". its charter will "incompetence and dishonesty".
Finally some commons sense on this scheme.
This editorial is a home run!
Billy Moriss does not approve of the Augusta Gardens stadium because he does not own the land. Build it Downtown! You can bet if residential property were to be built there, as the Chronicle suggests, Billy would be the first in line to buy the property from the State. Look what he did at Forrest Hills. He aims for the same thing at the Gardens... on the cheap.
Yes, Forrest Hills has been destroyed. I am sure the decision on this stadium will be made on Milledge Road.
this is such a transparent attempt to poo poo on a great idea because it profits not the publisher of THE CHRONICLE.........and by the looks of some of these comments, Mr. Morris likes to comment anonymously on his own paper's editorials as well......
your grip is slipping Billy..........enjoy bankruptcy...........
I believe it is absolutely ludcrous to spend millions planning to build somethng on land you don't even own. As for parking, Deke has already said be ready for about a 10 minute walk. I see this as another taxpayer money pit much like the GGHOF and civic center. Take that money and pave the damn streets. Driving in Augusta is like when I drove country dirt roads in the 50s to see my grandma. I can't see a square yard of street down town Augusta thsat hasn't been dug up and poorly repaird or with man hole covers even with the pavement.
I agree with Wavedout. This is pathetic, Chronicle. I look forward to tomorrow's headline about Billy Morris being the greatest person ever. It does explain why the article the day after the press conference was next to the obituaries. Stories like this will put the Chronicle in the obituaries before you can say "Billy Morris is my hero."
WAVED, DJohnny, why do you have to ascribe some sort of nefarious motives to someone like myself who does not believe that the local gov't has any role to play in providing entertainment venues. Good night...is this so hard to understand? The county isn't building movie theaters, it isn't building bars and restaurants...why? Because it's not the role of the public treasury. But, who am I? Clearly, the county has done such an INCREDIBLE ^$&^$% job with the Golf and Gardens, the Coliseum...what do I know? They're such experts at this stuff, they do such a wonderful job...Jesus...you all are so transparent. You want your little baseball team to have a new stadium, and to hell w/johnsmith if he would rather keep his money than spend it on another taxpayer ripoff. Why, ol' johnsmith must be a billionaire in disguise! That's the ONLY reason he would write such a comment...ya freakin' loonies...how about just a LITTLE fiscal discipline, once? I mean, I haven't ever seen the ARC commission try it...maybe they would LIKE not spending every dime they can confiscate for a month or two...
I live in Forest Hills. I don't understand the comment about Morris destroying it...it's a great neighborhood. Mr Morris lives on Wheeler Rd, not Forest Hills.
John Smith do us all a favor and move far far away. This city is trying to go in a positive direction, and we have no room for people like you. Us loonies want a better Augusta, and do your part today by shipping out.
I KNEW this editorial was coming. C'mon...nobody ELSE noticed that WIlliam (Billy) Morris was NEVER prominently mentioned in the planning of this facility? Of COURSE, the paper's gonna come out against it. Now, if Morris had a STAKE in it, I ASSURE you you'd have seen the artists rendering in full-color splashed on the front page (they're on ballparkdigest.com by the way, if you'd like to actually SEE them) with a GLOWING editorial opinion ENDORSING the project.
Folks complaining about the facilities MAKING money miss the point - they're not so much about making money themselves as much as they're about enabling economic development to happen AROUND them.
Paved roads, streets and bridges don't make money, either, but we implore our government to build them because we need them in order for commerce to happen. Wal-Mart comes asking for street-widening at taxpayer expense, and nobody bats an eyelash.
The stadium project will be a glowing centerpiece for a newly revitalized downtown Augusta... adjacent to the gardens, the new convention center, and within walkng distance to the shops, cafes, restaurants, etc. that now populate Reynolds, Broad and their connectors.
I was downtown last night, and as usual, Saturday night was slow in downtown Augusta. A baseball stadium is not going to suddenly change things and make things thrive. Most people who go for the games, will still get in their cars afterwards and head up Riverwatch or Calhoun Expressway to eat at the usual chain restaurants on washington rd, Robert C. Daniels, etc.
it does seem ludicrous; but i'm not totally against it. people need to see smaller, connected venues succeed. the renovation of old office buildings into living areas are in progress and i know of a couple of younger people that have moved downtown. build. slowly and thoughtfully. i love going downtown for the eclectic feel, please don't turn it into something so commercialized that it loses its charm. and someone outside of the city saw fit to renovate the stadium for $400K... can't we let that stand while cleaning up and building the infrastructure downtown? next to the botanical gardens .. why, that just brings back memories of failure.
Unless it is built in Columbia County, it will fail. SORRY! The City of Augusta is a complete and utter joke. And, we all know that. Right???
Did someone say, "Build it and they will come?" A field of dreams, to be sure. Build it in Columbia County is correct. Indeed, they will come. (But use private funds.)
Waterfront property is too valuable for public development. It needs to be developed to be tax revenue producing, not consuming. I can't figure out where all the land is for it anyway. How do the fine folks in N Augusta feel about having such a complex across from their homes? How about we build it on that huge parking lot next to the James Brown Arena with a parking deck that can accomodate both as well as the new Court House?
Build it in columbia county and it will do nothing. Built it downtown along with every else that is going up. Every major city has a vibrant urban core. Columbia county is nothing but a suburb with 4 small areas and one martinez splitting into some of west augsuta.
jonnee no one goes to downtown augusta on the weekends; look all the concerts or going to usc now; the city of augusta has proven by the civic center that they can not and should not be allowed to run or develop a facility of this nature. Look at the mess the procurement department has already created for the city of augusta. How many millions are going to be spent cleaning up procurements mess. Do not give augusta procurement more money to waste.
Augusta just had two sold out concerts at the civic center in the past half month. Who is going to usc now give me a break. Can you name one concert that went to usc when its a tiny facility. And obviously you don't go downtown on the weekends. Because i know people who stay in old towne. And when i visit downtown is always pretty packed especially broad st. I think you haven't been downtown on the weekend oh man in a few years.
If waterfront property were so valuable that it'd be better-suited for commercial development, then explain why that hasn't happened at all in the last century of Augusta's history?
i don't think we can compare the new ballpark to the civic center. The new ballpark won't be run by the city, it will be run by professionals, the people who currently run the current stadium.
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