City plans to sells Municipal Stadium for $2mm

[vicupstate]

http://www.greenvillenews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...EWS01/612160301

It will be interesting to see what pans out. I wonder how this will work in conjuction with the Conestee plans.

I would assume the acreage would be developed to some degree.

[gs3]

I don't really understand this. Greenville Athletics would be a private company, right? How does that play in with the plan for a park? And if not a park, what would a private company do with an old, unused stadium? The land in this area isn't exactly suitable for redevelopment as retail....demographics aren't that great.....more lite industrial.

[whitehourseview]

I don't really understand this. Greenville Athletics would be a private company, right? How does that play in with the plan for a park? And if not a park, what would a private company do with an old, unused stadium? The land in this area isn't exactly suitable for redevelopment as retail....demographics aren't that great.....more lite industrial.

[Greenville]

I like this idea, because I prefer that the city put its money into better, more accessible parks and tourism attractions than Municipal Stadium.

[vicupstate]

Next question is, what should the city spend the $2mm on? You can only do so much with that amount, but it can do some signifcnt amount of streetscaping, or maybe replace the Municipal Court building. Ideas?

[RestedTraveler]

I'd redirect it straight to the city's portion of the rail trail, myself. I'm sure there are other uses, perhaps even more immediate ones.

Edit: After just being reminded of the "what would you destroy?" thread, I would like to amend my previous suggestion to read, "I'd redirect it straight to the city's portion of the rail trail after setting aside whatever amount is needed to replace that horrible facade on City Tavern (formerly Tassey's)."

[gs3]

A follow-up article on the ball field:

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs....EWS01/612160313

[whitehourseview]

A nice thing about this deal is that the local government had planned to spend $4 million on upgrading this facility anyhow. Now, not only are they not spending that, but they are receiving $2 million for it. A nice turnaround..

[vicupstate]

Yeah, this turned out very well. Hopefully that $4mm will be spent on the other projects that the new hospitality tax will pay for. The $2mm that the city will receive will be levergaed with Federal money for road improvements in the area, which hopefully will lead to more business/industry in the Fairforest/ICAR/Millenium area. That in turn will mean more tax revenue for the city.

Speaking of the hospitality tax, it is a worthwhile development in itself. The area will get TWO major Visitor's Centers as well as a number of new attractions. I think in 15-20 years, this area might actually rival present-day Asheville or Charleston for tourism. Quite a turn-around. Just a few years ago, such tourism was practically non-existant.

[vicupstate]

As a comparison, listed below are the figures for Accomodation Taxes earned in Greenville and Charleston Counties. That is the 2% tax on Hotel/Motel and other accomodations. These funds go to pay for tourist related activities. These funds are spent on Fall for Greenville, Artisphere, Southern Exposure, Visitor's Centers, and other activities/buildings that draw tourists. Just think how much better all those events (plus the returning Freedom Weekend Aloft) could be if Greenville caught up to Charleston.

Greenville : 1,836,000

Charleston: 7,478,000

[GvilleSC]

Not to get too much off-topic here, but Greenville tourism industry has been growing by leaps and bounds recently, how is Charleston's fairing? Is it running away from us or are we "catching up"?

[whitehourseview]

Nice to see the South Atlantic Conference collegiate baseball tournament in town at Municipal Stadium. It's the first college tournament there since the ACC tournament over 10 years ago.

If you are looking for some collegiate baseball this week, go out to the old Muni. Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for kids.

Municipal Stadium is getting a lot of use, which is wonderful. It's great to see an old ballpark get a second life. Here is the Upstate Carolina Baseball page.

Long term, the Stadium will have a nice economic and social impact for years in the area.

[gs3]

Anyone heard more on the old stadium? I was down this road today and noticed that the old Bombers sign is finally down. Looked like some work was going on. Anyone know?

[whitehourseview]

Anyone heard more on the old stadium? I was down this road today and noticed that the old Bombers sign is finally down. Looked like some work was going on. Anyone know?

[gs3]

Municipal Stadium has had a very active summer.

To see the schedule, go here: http://www.upstatecarolinabaseball.com/Schedule.php

Events are going on virtually every weekend from May through September. I do believe the plan is to use Municipal Stadium this year, and starting this fall, to build other ballparks around it, in parking lots and on some of the cleared lots. The facility will only grow in the amount of activity it sees every spring through fall, and on into winter as an indoor facility will be built in years to come.

The visitors it will bring to Greenville, through traveling teams will bring lots of business to the area in the years to come.

[whitehourseview]

Does anybody have an update on this project? Where it stands?

I was getting gas today on Augusta Road and a woman from Georgia pulled up and asked me directions. I thought she meant West End Field, but she said it was Municipal Stadium. When I gave her directions, she said she had been down Mauldin Road already and couldn't find it. I mentioned that the last time I was by, there was no sign and the entrance wasn't well marked. Hope she found it. Now that Fall is here, seems construction should be starting on the renovation.

[gs3]

Update on the project? How do you mean?

[whitehourseview]

Meaning, when will some construction start on the new fields? When will a proper sign be placed at the entrance (and the broken, sign pylon for the old ballpark removed)? New landscaping (or even just the grass cut)? Etc? Etc? I'm glad it had a busy summer, but at the moment, it looks like a dead facility that a team moved out of, instead of a new facility we can be proud to tout for events.

[gs3]

They have to turn away teams and players now. The demand is pretty high.

[gman430]

New plan for Municipal Stadium and surrounding area: http://councilagendas.greatergreenville.co...7-08/Item7b.pdf and http://councilagendas.greatergreenville.co...7-08/Item8a.pdf

[GvilleSC]

I like the sound of recruiting the Little League HQ!

[whitehourseview]

I like the sound of recruiting the Little League HQ!

[GvilleSC]

Question- the Southern region Little League HQ is not really associated with this facility (other than it could be a selling point for the City's efforts), correct? I mean, we wouldn't necessarily see them build their operation offices on Mauldin Rd? Naturally, I would hope they would lease space downtown...

[whitehourseview]

It is my understanding from reading that .pdf that the city, through the lease with the County Rec Department, is using the facility as a recruiting tool for the Southern Regional Little League HQ, as they need a 5,000 seat facility that meet their needs. I can't really imagine why they would come to Greenville, and then base a limited office space miles away from a facility that they would use.

Again, we're not talking less about office space, and more about playing fields here. Note that Easley is also attempting to intice the Regional Little League HQ to move from Florida to the "Red" Owens complex, where the Big League World Series is held in late summer: http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs....303/1001/NEWS01

Incidentedly, this is what the present Southern Regional Little League HQ looks like, in St. Petersburg, FL:

http://www.eteamz.com/llbsouth/index.cfm?

Again, it's really a place of camps, instruction and organization and less of rented office space in some location. This is the view from the air of the facility:

[GvilleSC]

Gotcha. I mean, obviously they would need space to manage their operations, but if they are as active as you say in bringing events and running them, then it would make sense for them to locate at the fields. It's a real shame that the old ballpark is out in the middle of nowhere (in the sense of restaurants, hotels, etc).

Other than the City of Greenville being able to say that it is located in the City limits, this would be a real win for Mauldin and not Greenville in terms of where money would be spent, I would think.