Greensboro to get new minor league ballpark in 2005

Folks in the Gate City recently voted down a proposal which would've prevented constrution of a ballpark in downtown Greensboro (who the *(&$(#&$*$ put this on the ballot, Don Reid's cousin ? ? ? ). This paves the way for a new ballpark to be built for the city's single A ballclub (Bats) which should be ready by 2005. How come a similar deal can't be done to build the Knights a new ballpark in Southend/Uptown CLT ? ?



Downtown Ballpark (Fansite)




Official Greensboro Ballpark Site

 

its too bad leaders never want to just upgrade existing facilities. It is awful but why not just give it a facelift? I guess they want that uptown feel. That stadium is terrible facility wise, but it is loaded with history. Jeter played shortstop there and nearly every other great Yankee the last 15 years from their system. Micky Mantle and John Elway also played there. I loved playing there. You could feel all the great players that had been on that field the last half century.

Lost a no-no there in the 9th.

 

how many outs?

 

Guess I will have to make a trip to War Memorial Stadium next year before they tear it down.A lot of history in that place.

 

actually War Memorial Stadium will not be torn down and will be used as a facilty for college and ametuer baseball games. The city also wants to market War Memorial as a tournament stadium. Because of the way War Memorial was designed, it just couldnt be upgraded properly. You couldn't add skyboxes behind the home place and you cant see the playing field from the narrow, enclosed concourse. Also the city would have had to foot a $16 million renovation bill and thats not going to fly in Greensboro. This is why the new stadium had to be built with private dollars. But yes the new stadium is being built uptown as a part of the overall downtown revitalization plan. The stadium will be built to expand beyond 8,000 seats making it eligeble for a AAA team at some point in the future. One idea thats been floating around is to build the Atlantic Coast Conference Sports Hall of Fame & Museum near the ballpark.

GREENSBORO DOWNTOWN BALLPARK RENDERINGS

 

I think the biggest reason why Charlotte is struggling to get a downtown ballpark at this time is because the city's resources are tied up in the new uptown arena for the Charlotte Bobcats. Even for Charlotte, its very difficult to have a stadium and an arena being built at the same time with the use of tax dollars. A new ballpark for Charlotte will have to wait a while unless an entity steps forward to build the stadium completely with private dollars like in Greensboro. When Charlotte does get around to building one, I wonder if it will be a retro stadium like in Greensboro and Durham?