Stadium Location and Design
Without question the location of the new stadium will affect its cost but more importantly impact its value as a monumental structure, entertainment attraction and producer of “spin off” economic growth for the City. The South Capitol Street offers the City and private developers the opportunity to build a neighborhood around the stadium all can enjoy and visit on a frequent basis. This new development will draw visitors from within the City and the surrounding area as well as tourists from distant regions during the baseball season and after. The large South Capitol Street area to be cleared of dilapidated structures and the access to major roadways should make the South Capitol site easier to build upon. Moving tons of steel and an endless fleet of trucks hauling dirt through narrow residential streets and quiet neighborhoods near RFK will not be so simple for contractors or as acceptable to the residents.
 
The area around RFK has demonstrated little upside commercial potential for the type of growth that is a widely held vision for the South Capitol site, assuming the stadium is built. As Camden Yards became a key part of the inner harbor development, the South Capitol site has a future that our citizens and more importantly the investment community can easily appreciate. Recent debate on Capitol Hill is predictive that the Congress, following the lead of Representatives from our neighboring states, has a strong committed to developing the South Capitol Street “gateway” to make it a major tourist entry into our City. This will be achieved in the coming years with considerable federal investment that fulfills the Gateway Development plan. Unfortunately, the no matter the cost some will favor the RFK site even if it limits the potential of baseball and private business development to thrive at the proposed site.

It is instructive to consider that the new stadium for the San Francisco Giants has generated a million more fans for the Giants than the nearby Oakland A’s when both teams have similar records and the A’s the better post season performance. The Giants purchased a rundown area and made it a prime tourist location with the construction of their wonderful park. It went from an area that most tourists and citizens avoided to a location of year-round tours with the investment by the Giants and the taxpayers of San Francisco. For another example of restoring a nearly unusable area into a prime producer of revenue and urban improvement one need only study The Meadow Lands built by New Jersey to “win” the Giants and Jets from New York. It was built with the tax revenue from gambling in New Jersey and converted a landfill to a first rate sports complex bringing two teams and more to the State.
 
The proposed design for the new baseball stadium will also determine a significant part of the cost. However, to build a stadium we all will be living with for decades requires forward thinking architectural sensitivity, top quality construction materials and skilled and experienced contractors to complete the job. Designing for “value” as compared to “first costs” is a decision the Council will see pay off in a big way over the next twenty years. Hiring construction firms with a quality workforce experience in large scale projects will also save the City over time as building owners up to 5 times more to rebuild poor quality construction than to do it right the first time.