My fellow Richmonders, lend me your ears… or eyes, this is a paper.
The usual program of Irish stories has been interrupted for this important broadcast. I’ve been keeping up with my hometown’s happenings and something has struck my attention and has fired up my opinionated heart. I couldn’t have let this opportunity pass and not comment on the fiasco concerning our little friend “The Diamond.”
See, as important as teaching my fellow colleagues about the Northern Irish culture is, saving a city as cool as Richmond is thousands of times more important. So I write this sappy plea in hopes of convincing a few of you readers that Richmond’s Bottom does not need any new growth.
I’ve heard all the sadly unpersuasive arguments for this “downtown stadium” that will magically save our city from urban decay. And I am not swayed one bit. Let me tell you why.
I’ve read a lot of articles about this topic, and what do I always stumble upon? Parking garages. I hear a lot about parking garages as a main concern for us lazy Americans who have been known to retrieve the mail from the mailbox by driving down the driveway of our suburban mansions. Let me address this query quickly with my feelings on the matter. This city doesn’t need parking garages, considering parking is not a hard thing to find downtown, with all those abandoned buildings and the commuter flight after the 9 to 5 workday. This is not New York City.
Let me move on to the baseball stadium. There is no need for replacing the beautifully rejuvenated, hip Shockoe Bottom we have worked so hard to establish with an ugly monster like a new ball park. Yes, the new San Francisco Giants stadium downtown on the bay has done wonders for the fans and the city life, but this is not San Francisco, nor do we have a team like Bonds’ Giants…nor do we have a world famous bay!
So let’s get real.
What we do have is a great little artsy city, with a young creative population. This young creative population thrives in the Bottom, with its cafes, clubs and rock venues. So don’t destroy that by opening the floodgates to thousands of suburbanites who would flock in to that spot-lit field every spring and summer’s night, bringing ankle-biting little leaguers and Ralph the half-bred Golden retriever with a bladder problem.
The headlines are everywhere. They keep calling the new proposal a downtown one. But what exactly is a “downtown?” Downtown is the center of the city. It is the commercial heart of the city.
So, our Wachovia and Bank of America and Federal Reserve and Capital — these blocks — this is downtown. So, the Bottom is not anymore downtown than the northside industrial park off the Boulevard where the current Diamond dwells. Both are in the city limits, which in American suburbanite lingo usually becomes “downtown.”
Besides, the Boulevard sector is falling to pieces, and the Bottom is holding its own. We need to protect the Bottom’s self-built integrity and refurbish the decaying Boulevard’s.
A city’s heart lies with the people who live there. And it is up to them to make the city grow and mature. A giant construction project does not save a city. An interesting little coffee shop like Cafe Gutenberg, or a loud club like Alley Katz — these places make a city. All the hordes of these little independent creative centers make a city. We have many.
We also have a ballpark. But that’s another story.
I’ve enjoyed the Diamond where it is. I think the view of downtown is grand from Boulevard’s industrial north side. And it is easily within the city limits. It is a perfect place for a stadium. It is cheaper to fix it up too.
The Bottom needs to remain historical and keep its cool look and feel, which would be destroyed by a giant ballpark.