TAKING STRIKE THREE

By Dan Miller
May 25, 2007

I'm sad and disappointed that Nashville apparently won't get its new downtown baseball park.
It really was a good idea.

Notice I'm saying "Nashville won't get ITS ballpark"..... not "the Sounds won't get THEIR ballpark."

After years of botched, short-sighted negotiations, it all fell through.... and that's a shame.
In the dust of that idea, Mayor Purcell is now proposing that an amphitheater be built on the old thermal plant site, along with shopping venues.

An amphitheater?

Have we forgotten that we already have an amphitheater at the Bicentennial Mall, and it's hardly ever used for anything.

And isn't there a big band shell in Centennial Park?
It's used maybe 4 or 5 times a year.

And talk about noise, the symphony folks were concerned about the prospect of the Sounds' Saturday night fireworks display...wait 'til a rock concert at the amphitheatre is competing with Dvorak being performed at the Schermerhorn.
Are they gonna request the speakers be turned down?

And I'm pretty sure I've spotted a stage set up for performances at water's edge there at Riverfront Park?
FanFair is already closely tied to LP Field, and dozens of artists perform yearly inside the arena (the Sommet Center), so a new amphitheater would be direct competition for those two city-owned facilities.

This latest proposal also mentions retail shopping there at the thermal site.
Are people really going to trek all the way downtown to do their shopping?
Does the name Church Street Center ring a bell?

It seems to me that investing in a state-of-the-art baseball stadium (leased or rented to the Sounds) -- surrounded by a public park -- might actually be the wisest use for that land.
AutoZone Park in Memphis is credited with revitalizing an entire section that city.
And look at what Louisville Slugger Field did for downtown Louisville.

And if you want to see a truly beautiful facility, go online and check out the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, the home of the Oklahoma Redhawks in downtown Oklahoma City (pictured above).

Think about it.... a nice baseball park is almost the same as an open air amphitheater, it just happens to have a pitcher's mound and base paths.
The main difference is that a ball field would actually be used a lot.
It would draw thousands of people downtown on 50 or 60 warm summer nights, spending money at all the nearby restaurants and businesses.

Because of the sheer number of games played in agreeable weather, it would likely have a bigger financial impact on downtown than either the Titans or the Predators.
And when the Sounds weren't playing, the field could be used for concerts, crusades, celebrity games, college baseball championships, and other outdoor gatherings (the same as an amphitheater).

Thinking back, some of the best concerts I saw while growing up in Augusta were staged at that city's old minor league ballpark known as Jennings Stadium.
As a young kid, I saw Hank Williams perform there.
Later, I attended a James Brown concert at the ball field.

I believe a business district baseball stadium is a good idea, not to be abandoned.
It would certainly draw the home folks downtown.... which many attractions don't do.

Remember the carousel?
Whatever happened to that?

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