Baseball Stadium Isn't the Greatest Use for Historic Shockoe

Richmond lost its Triple-A baseball team. The future of The Diamond -- located on the Boulevard -- is in question. And a significant amount of Shockoe Bottom remains in decay. Good people want to do something to address all of these issues.

The City of Richmond's government is considering allowing the relocation of a baseball field from The Diamond's site on the Boulevard to a new location. A competent development team is highly motivated to locate it in Shockoe Bottom. What would be the magnitude of the impact of this development on the rest of the city and on the region? What might be the unintended consequences?

Is the primary goal to have a stadium in Shockoe Bottom, or is the primary goal to lure a baseball team back to Richmond? Or perhaps the primary goal is economic development. Where does the region's unique history fit in with any of these options? These are all important issues. The challenge is to prioritize and coordinate the pursuit of each -- in a way that best serves an overall vision for the City of Richmond as the center of a region.

Rather than decide on whether to put a stadium in Shockoe Bottom -- and then plan the rest of the vision for our city -- why not do it the other way around?

Let's back up and attempt to clearly a central vision for Richmond, from which we are able to set individual-issue goals. In the words of Yogi Berra, "If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there."

The 2007 Crupi Report suggested a vision to develop and redevelop Richmond in a way that maximizes the benefit of being located on a river with falls. In addition to riverfront planning, a recommendation was made that the city-owned property on the Boulevard, on which The Diamond is situated, be redeveloped into an office campus similar to Innsbrook or West Creek.

Integrating a new stadium there as well would maximize the efficient use of parking -- office use by day, with baseball and other activities filling the lots at night and on weekends.

Regarding baseball, some facts are not in dispute:

 



• The Braves left Richmond's outdated baseball stadium, The Diamond, which is located 2.8 miles from Richmond's downtown financial district.

 



• The Braves have chosen to move to a new stadium in Gwinnett County, Ga., that is 31.2 miles from downtown Atlanta and is located very near the Mall of Georgia.

Frisco, Texas, a suburban community located 30 miles outside of Dallas, did the same thing in 2004 with a new suburban stadium complex for its Double-A Roughriders.

If suburban communities in Georgia and Texas are winning and keeping teams, should not the collective Richmond region be looking for a site near Short Pump mall in Western Henrico County? That area is only 15 miles from Richmond's city center.

Though I am opposed to locating a new stadium in Short Pump, I am confident that it would succeed there with less financial risk than a project in Shockoe Bottom -- and that it would pack the stands on a regular basis.

Bryan Bostic -- one of the lead advocates for the Highwoods Properties' development plan for a Shockoe Bottom complex that includes a stadium -- is an essential part of why baseball will return to Richmond. He is an inspirational speaker for Richmond baseball and is 100 percent committed to the game. He is also interested in the potential economic benefits to the Richmond region that could go hand-in-hand with the shared successes of a large mixed-use project in which a ballpark could be a leading part.

The position of Highwoods Properties -- the company that the city has selected as lead developer for the Shockoe stadium complex and the new development at the site of The Diamond -- is that economic benefits are one of the top reasons for building Shockoe Center, the mixed use/ballpark project.

Dennis Coates, a University of Maryland-Baltimore County economics professor, however, was quoted in the Sept. 29, 2008, Atlanta Journal-Constitution regarding the Gwinnett County stadium: "The only ones who think they're going to create development and jobs aren't economists."

Local baseball fans will spend money from within their existing personal spending limitations. A visit to a restaurant in Shockoe Bottom after a game means one less visit to another restaurant in the region on another day.

Tax collections related to that visit will be redirected away from existing government revenue in order to pay for the stadium bonds managed by the proposed Richmond Sports Facilities Authority. Indirectly, the stadium in Shockoe Bottom would be at least partially government financed.

The prerequisite for any team to locate in or near Richmond is the promise of a new stadium -- be it urban or suburban. My family will attend games wherever Bryan Bostic can secure a team and build or rebuild a stadium.

From the standpoint of baseball alone, the Shockoe Bottom site is quite interesting. Why then should we consider staying at the Boulevard or relocating to any of these sites other than Shockoe Bottom? The answer is simple. It is our history. It is the nation's history.

Shockoe Bottom is the Ground Zero of Virginia's participation in the American trafficking of humans as personal property. Enshrining this history with an interpretive path, new museums, and the right physical experience for visitors could become the center of our city's national identity.

Jim Collins wrote a book based on the premise that good is the enemy of great. If we settle for good, we will miss the opportunity to be great. Why not make Shockoe Bottom the destination for experiencing our nation's history before, during, and after the Civil War?

A national slave museum located very near Lumpkin's Jail and other sites in Shockoe Bottom would add greatly to the collection of other Civil War-related draws to Richmond. Many of them could be connected using replicas of electric street cars fashioned after the nation's first trolleys -- which operated right here in Richmond.

Richmond's history is unique and abundant, but it has lacked sufficient coordination and marketing as a serious tourism destination. Unlike a ballpark drawing on local dollars, national-level tourism brings dollars to Richmond from outside the region.

There is still time to sort out the details for a history-centered plan for Shockoe Bottom that would anchor our vision for Richmond. There is little time, however, for choosing the location of a new ballpark.

The timing for a new ballpark commitment is far more critical than the location chosen. Urgent action is required to prevent losing a good opportunity to secure a baseball team. A decision needs to be made now to locate a ballpark somewhere other than Shockoe Bottom -- and to get a team.

Save Shockoe Bottom for something bigger and more unique -- something truly great.

George Nyfeler manages the Richmond office of McCrone Inc., a civil engineering firm specializing in re-development. He is a resident of the City of Richmond and is a student of urban studies and planning at VCU. He can be reached at gnyfeler@mccrone-inc.com.