Baseball in Charlotte, which will happen?

[reverbandwhiskey]

I hope the financing plans don't call for any public funds. I'm tired of buying stadiums.

[nyxmike]

I hope the financing plans don't call for any public funds. I'm tired of buying stadiums.

I'm pretty sure it's all private funds - if anything, the city is probably going to have to fund infrastructure improvements and what not - not sure how much that will be. I'm also not sure how this guy plans on coming up with $500 billion in private funds.

[browngeo]

Ok...I am ignorant...I don't get it and will finally ask..

I always read about capping 277...

What the heck does a cap mean on a highway ? cover it ? make it underground ? Someone please explain it to me...

[Creasy336]

This is an interesting thread.

I think everyone is missing one crucial point---the incredible allure of MLB. MLB isn't just something that existing baseball fans enjoy. It spreads like wildfire. People who had never been interested in baseball find themselves watching the games on TV and feeling even more pride for their city, which feeds more into the local spread of the sport. It is a seductive presence.

In 1995 several friends moved to Seattle when I did. None of us had ever been even slightly interested in baseball. After 6 months living in the local baseball culture, with the Seattle Mariners, we all became fans!!!! We started going to games.

Seattle's baseball games draw people as far away as Silverdale Washington, a 1.5 hour commute each way....if Charlotte had a team you would be amazed at how many Carolina baseball fans would drop the Braves like a hot potato, and drive in to see their Carolina team!

If Charlotte had a MLB team, before long executives will invite whole offices to join in at their private stadium sitting areas....new fans are created and the sport explodes. Miami is too damn hot to sit outside and watch a baseball game. Just because it didn't make it in Miami, doesn't mean that it wouldn't make it in Charlotte.

With all the condo residents close-by, and the games starting when everyone gets off work, it should make the odds look pretty good.

Parking can be a resolvable problem, so can land deals. Go for the gusto. Go for MLB. Go ahead and build a world class stadium NOW. Why build a Triple A stadium that will be demolished in 10-20 years??????

I totally agree, The MLB does add an incredible allure to a city. Baseball adds something to a city that other sports don't. They say our market is too small but how large were some of the other cities who have 3 sports when they got their 3 franchise? Eventhough the games are played frequently during the season, local support will be major. Also their will be support from NC and SC especially Triad area. The gear is better too! (joking ) Taking mass transit to the games could be a major theme also which could support the attendance.

[Seabreeze]

Ok...I am ignorant...I don't get it and will finally ask..

I always read about capping 277...

What the heck does a cap mean on a highway ? cover it ? make it underground ? Someone please explain it to me...

The section near the Westin would have a concrete 'cap' over it at the same height as the overpasses there, with a park on top of it. It was innitially proposed with the 2010 plan but fell through for some reason.

[dubone]

The idea of putting a park on top of some below-grade section of 277 has not taken off because of the cost. There are so many underutilized acres in the center city, it does make economic sense currently. My view has always been to retain the transportation capacity of the freeways, which have definitely helped to create the density in uptown, but mitigate the connectivity by adding new bridges and improving pedestrian connectivity on existing interchanges.

As for baseball, I think our best bets are the Center City partners plan to secure a privately constructed minor league park in Third Ward. We have little chance of supporting major league in the next decade, so why not get the benefits from an intown minor league stadium. In 10-15 years, the soonest I think we can hope to get a major league team, we can then figure out how to build a major league stadium and revert Third Ward back to private development at time when it will be more apt to absorb it.

[reverbandwhiskey]

"CHARLOTTE -- On Tuesday night, several Mecklenburg County commissioners expressed interested in bringing professional baseball to Charlotte's Center City.

Real estate attorney Jerry Reese made a proposal before the commission on his plans to bring a major league stadium to Uptown's Second Ward.

Commissioners are also looking at a proposal to build the Charlotte Knights a new minor league stadium in Third Ward.

Mecklenburg County General Manager Bobbie Shields says commissioners don't have enough information on how a major league stadium would be funded.

Right now the Florida Marlins are the only major league team that have official permission to look into moving locations.

On Tuesday, commissioners voted to give Reese until April first to help provide them with more information.

During the meantime the county will focus on making a possible deal with bringing the Knights to Uptown, an idea which Center City Partners is supporting."

Sounds like the major league stadium is more of a pipedream.

[monsoon]

Sounds like the major league stadium is more of a pipedream.

Not that I don't believe you, but that sounds just like it was copied verbatm from the local fishwrap or tv station website. We all know here the depth of their reporting.

[dubone]

Reese's plan has definitely been a pipedream from the beginning. In some ways, htat might have been fine, as many pipe dreams become reality with some hard work. But his project originally was just a minor league stadium, and one might have thought he could work with other developers to get the rest up and running. Now, Center City Partners has the more practical plan on getting 2nd Ward into developer's hands and funding a baseball stadium. There are millions of dollars worth of handshake commitments in that plan. The Reese plan basically quintupled in costs for the notion of including the Marlins, but he doesn't have any additional partners or funding commitments.

I'm glad the County is giving him some due dilligence consideration, as he did spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on LandDesign and conceptual renderings.

But I think we all know deep down that the Marlins won't come to Charlotte.

[Miesian Corners]

^But no one in the County is biting yet (thank God!). Find another place for the minor league stadium. I WANT MY PARK! For goodness sakes, my taxes have paid for two arenas, provided land and infrastructure for the NFL, the very least my local government can do is give me a place to rest my weary bones after experiencing all the new exciting activities now found uptown.

[mediamongrel]

Isn't Fort Mill only like 10-15 mins. away from Charlotte? I laugh when I hear people say "It's too far to drive to SC to see baseball." But yet it takes the same amount of time to get up Providence Road or Independence or Graham St.

My point is, the seats aren't full at the Knights games right now. Why would they be full if the stadium was downtown? If they wanted people living on the outbelt near 485 to see baseball they would still have to drive 10-15 miles (approx 20-30 minutes) to Uptown. What's the difference? Besides, the price will only go up if AAA baseball comes inside Meck. Co. Right now the prices are fairly reasonable, and it's not THAT far!

[unccmyway]

It's the same reson the Bobcats are averaging thousands more per game than they did last year. There's much more to do in Uptown than there is in Ft. Mill. People don't just go to see the game. They go for the experience before and after the game also.

[mediamongrel]

It's the same reson the Bobcats are averaging thousands more per game than they did last year. There's much more to do in Uptown than there is in Ft. Mill. People don't just go to see the game. They go for the experience before and after the game also.

I see what you're saying but there were people at the Hornet's games when the arena was on Tyvola from '88-'94. The experience after the game is just bars. I don't know if that constitutes as nightlife, but you're right it may draw more people to a game. Though, I can still take 485 and make it to a Knights game in 20 minutes. I probably WOULDN'T go as much if it were uptown. But hey, that's just me.

[nyxmike]

Isn't Fort Mill only like 10-15 mins. away from Charlotte? I laugh when I hear people say "It's too far to drive to SC to see baseball." But yet it takes the same amount of time to get up Providence Road or Independence or Graham St.

My point is, the seats aren't full at the Knights games right now. Why would they be full if the stadium was downtown? If they wanted people living on the outbelt near 485 to see baseball they would still have to drive 10-15 miles (approx 20-30 minutes) to Uptown. What's the difference? Besides, the price will only go up if AAA baseball comes inside Meck. Co. Right now the prices are fairly reasonable, and it's not THAT far!

It's 15 mins. away for people in Ballantyne or Pineville, but not for people on the northside of the county. The east side of the county isn't close either. The point is, Uptown is pretty much in the center of the county, which means it is accessible in a decent amount of time from all directions.

[Charlotteman]

A stadium in Fort Mill is absurd.

Tacoma Washington, near where I live has a AAA stadium (the farm team for the Seattle Mariniers) The stadium is small, a few thousand people come to the games. Forget AAA. It's for the wanna be places. Charlotte is way way beyond that!

AAA baseball fails to attract the fervency, the excitement, the stunning civic pride that MLB does.

Still no one has addressed my final question from my last post---does it make sense to spend millions and millions of dollars on a AAA stadium that everyone knows won't be there for long~~~~

The OCC stood only 30 years before it was demolished. Is this the Charlotte way?? What an astonishing way of looking at things.....

[SmellyCat]

The OCC stood only 30 years before it was demolished. Is this the Charlotte way?? What an astonishing way of looking at things.....

Not only the Charlotte way. The Kingdome in Seattle was imploded after just 24 years of use.

[Charlotteman]

Yes I realize the Kingdome met an early demise....and I thought it was a shame to demolish it. I personally saw many many baseball games there, and had a thoroughly nice time:)

The land it was on is worth so much, that a part-time only stadium wouldn't have been feasable to keep. It was decided a retractable roof stadium would attract more fans. A new park could have been kept~~~I still say some other use should have been brought about, instead of demolishing the Kingdome.

An interesting side-note: the Kingdom was HEAVILY in debt when it was demolished. We're talking millions and millions of dollars, plus it cost millions to implode. A 24 year old stadium that was okay as far as those sorts of stadiums go, but destroyed in the name of "modern" parks.

Charlotte needs to build a PERMANENT ballpark---one of the caliber of Baltimore's baseball field. A field so stunning, it would never be torn down. Building and tearing down, spending millions repeatedly just doesn't make economic sense. If a stadium/ballpark doesn't "make it" for at least 50-60 years, then perhaps the original concept was flawed??

Actually I think the Kingdome was around 30 years old when demolished:)

[RugbyPike#11]

The Kingdome was literally falling apart. It was becoming unsafe to continue to use that arena.

If Jerry Reese really has private developers willing to fund a retractable roof stadium, I wish he would consider building a soccer stadium for an MLS team. Soccer obviously isn't as popular as baseball, but I'd much rather see Charlotte host a winning MLS team, as well as international soccer (or rugby!) matches than host a small market baseball team that can never compete with the likes of the Yankees or Red Sox.

[SmellyCat]

Actually I think the Kingdome was around 30 years old when demolished:)

Not to nitpick, but I think it was actually 24 or 25 years. It opened the same year as the Seahawks first season in 1976, and was imploded in 2000 I believe.

Not far behind were those horrible concrete monoliths Veterans Stadium in Philly 33 years (1971-2004), Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh 30 years (1970-2000) and Riverfront Stadium in Cincy 32 years (1970-2002). Thank goodness the Brutalist movement is behind us.

[Creasy336]

The Kingdome was literally falling apart. It was becoming unsafe to continue to use that arena.

If Jerry Reese really has private developers willing to fund a retractable roof stadium, I wish he would consider building a soccer stadium for an MLS team. Soccer obviously isn't as popular as baseball, but I'd much rather see Charlotte host a winning MLS team, as well as international soccer (or rugby!) matches than host a small market baseball team that can never compete with the likes of the Yankees or Red Sox.

Compete in what way? Financially or Competitively?

[Miesian Corners]

The Kingdome was literally falling apart. It was becoming unsafe to continue to use that arena.

If Jerry Reese really has private developers willing to fund a retractable roof stadium, I wish he would consider building a soccer stadium for an MLS team. Soccer obviously isn't as popular as baseball, but I'd much rather see Charlotte host a winning MLS team, as well as international soccer (or rugby!) matches than host a small market baseball team that can never compete with the likes of the Yankees or Red Sox.

Why do we need a retractable roof stadium? Our football stadium isn't covered and its used only in winter.

[dubone]

We don't need one, but when someone is trying to sell an imaginary building, why not imagine it in the grandest possible design.

[swh1972]

I don't mind a retractable roof, as long as they don't use it for anything other than covering the field for rain. The Tampa Bay ballpark that is domed due to hot weather is not very appealing to me.

[reverbandwhiskey]

Think about the traffic nightmare of trying to get 40,000+ people into uptown Charlotte at 6PM.....

[unccmyway]

a lot of them might already be there. Hopefully they can draw a lot of the people that work uptown to the games.