$30 Million Stadium Coming to Downtown High Point (Charlotte, Raleigh: home, purchase)
Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High PointThe Triad Area
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High Point is in a sticky situation. It needs the furniture market otherwise all those big showrooms would be empty shells with no use whatsoever. But at the same time they hinder retail, entertainment, residential and office development in the center city. Its poor planning. Either High Point should have created a showroom district outside of downtown or the showrooms should have been designed with retail, restaurants and office development in mind. Again the buildings could be redesigned to incorporate those elements but the market would likely be against it because they'd lose showroom space
High Point is in a sticky situation. It needs the furniture market otherwise all those big showrooms would be empty shells with no use whatsoever. But at the same time they hinder retail, entertainment, residential and office development in the center city. Its poor planning. Either High Point should have created a showroom district outside of downtown or the showrooms should have been designed with retail, restaurants and office development in mind. Again the buildings could be redesigned to incorporate those elements but the market would likely be against it because they'd lose showroom space
You're correct, of course. If they did end up building that dedicated space for year-round showrooms elsewhere(even if they bought the empty mall to work in that area), they could slowly rework downtown. It would definitely take a lot of money up front but could be done if planned well. Regardless, it would years to fully get things resituated. I don't see the market being a long-term thing anyhow. Numbers are stagnant and are probably going to decline in the coming decade. The biggest issue is the head-butting between the old and new guards.
High Point is looking to have the same kind success Greensboro is having around its ballpark. I don't think it will be on the same scale as Greensboro but im sure there will be some development
You're correct, of course. If they did end up building that dedicated space for year-round showrooms elsewhere(even if they bought the empty mall to work in that area), they could slowly rework downtown. It would definitely take a lot of money up front but could be done if planned well. Regardless, it would years to fully get things resituated. I don't see the market being a long-term thing anyhow. Numbers are stagnant and are probably going to decline in the coming decade. The biggest issue is the head-butting between the old and new guards.
By the time this would happen humans will be dealing with space, as in outer space, sprawl.
So I found this article talking about the attendance among other teams in the Atlantic League. It actually appears to draw relatively well. The Long Island Ducks have the best attendance in the league the last two years. They have drawn a little over 5000 people a game the last two years. The Bridgeport Bluefish are the worst drawing team in the league at about 3000 a game in 2015 and down to about 2800 this year.
For the first year or two, the team should be able to draw at least 3000 a game. During the week, the team should draw 1000-1500 a game and then weekends could draw north of 4000/game. That kind of activity hopefully will be enough to be a catalyst for further development in downtown.
As far as the renderings, they're just rough renderings as it is. They are not likely to be very representative at all of the final product. In fact, I read in another source that they are considering letting the builder take care of the design and build of the stadium which could lead to a very different appearance than what we are seeing. One reason why High Point's stadium is so expensive though is for the land acquisition in addition to demolition of what is there. If I'm not mistaken, Fayetteville is building on top of fresh land that isn't being redeveloped.
Even at 3000 average attendance, that's over 200,000 people in downtown HP over the course of a 70-game season - I doubt many of those would otherwise visit downtown HP. Add in whatever other events they can bring, and I think this could be great for the area. I don't know how the finances work for the development at that level of attendance. But I'm excited about this project and hope it's successful. I'm 15-20 minutes away (about the same distance as Dash games, and I'm about 25 minutes from the 'Hoppers), so I'll definitely be attended some games.
I was excited when news of a possible downtown HP stadium first came up a while back. Apparently this baseball league requires AAA-level standards for its ballparks - I'm guessing both W-S and G'boro also at that level, and I love both those parks.
I'm not sure what you're saying here. AAA requires 10,000 seats. All of the Atlantic League teams play in parks smaller than that. Also, Greensboro and Winston's parks are well under 10,000 seats, thus not at AAA standards.
I'm not sure what you're saying here. AAA requires 10,000 seats. All of the Atlantic League teams play in parks smaller than that. Also, Greensboro and Winston's parks are well under 10,000 seats, thus not at AAA standards.
I believe the AAA specifications refers to field conditions/dimensions/facilities rather than the size of the stadium itself. Greensboro and Winston-Salem's parks are built to conform to AA standards.
That said, I don't think there's a requirement of 10000 seats in AAA even. All of the International League's parks do have at least 10,000. But in the Pacific Coast League, there are several stadiums that are substantially under 10,000 capacity. For instance, the Tacoma Rainiers play in Cheney Stadium which seats only 6500. Newly build Southwest University Park for El Paso seats just a hair over 8000 fans.
I think AAA standards refers more to the locker rooms, field conditions, etc. But I can't seem to find anything on it via Google. If I find something, I'll add it to my post or create another.
I believe the AAA specifications refers to field conditions/dimensions/facilities rather than the size of the stadium itself. Greensboro and Winston-Salem's parks are built to conform to AA standards.
That said, I don't think there's a requirement of 10000 seats in AAA even. All of the International League's parks do have at least 10,000. But in the Pacific Coast League, there are several stadiums that are substantially under 10,000 capacity. For instance, the Tacoma Rainiers play in Cheney Stadium which seats only 6500. Newly build Southwest University Park for El Paso seats just a hair over 8000 fans.
I think AAA standards refers more to the locker rooms, field conditions, etc. But I can't seem to find anything on it via Google. If I find something, I'll add it to my post or create another.
The Professional Baseball Agreement recommends 10,000 seats for AAA. The IL follows that rec, the PCL doesn't.
In any case its doubtful the Triad would ever land a AAA team due to territorial rights. Thats really the reason Raleigh doesnt have a baseball team because of the Durham Bulls. Greensboro and Winston-Salem really do need to be in AA league though
I'm not sure what you're saying here. AAA requires 10,000 seats. All of the Atlantic League teams play in parks smaller than that. Also, Greensboro and Winston's parks are well under 10,000 seats, thus not at AAA standards.
I'm guessing "AAA standards" as in amenities and other features, not seating capacity. It's just something I read - the Atlantic League wants people to consider them equivalent to a high level minor league.
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