Minor League Baseball, Music School, and Art Center Coming to Loudoun? (Norfolk: 2011, homes)

[normie]

I was just looking at the Kincora proposal. Wow--that's quite a place! It includes:

* shops, offices and about 1,000 homes
* a nature preserve
* a 118,000-square-foot performing arts center/school
* a 550-seat theater
* The Levine Music School
* YMCA
* Minor League Baseball stadium

The most intriguing detail is the 5,500-seat stadium. They hope to start fielding a Minor League team here in May 2011, and host concerts there as well. The stadium will also be used for youth sports.

The developers have agreed to spend $70 million for roads and other infrastructure improvements. Kincora will be built at the large site near the Route 7 and Route 28 interchange.

The proposal is currently being considered by the Board of Supervisors. It will be interesting to see if it goes through. I would definitely love to have a big performing arts center like that. Then there'd be one less reason to drive into the city for entertainment.

http://www.kincora-va.com/
Loudoun Times

[540_804]

Wow. Im happy for Loudon. And a bit jealous.
Can't wait to see if this one is approved.

Having the ballpark as an 'anchor' to the development is an interesting idea.

[Caladium]

Is it too late to ask the developers to include our Indoor Beach idea? We could send them the link to our forum. OK I'm kidding but wouldn't Loudoun Beach be the perfect addition to a place like this! Kincora's going to be right across from Dulles Town Center, so we could drop off the kids at the beach and get some shopping done.

[normie]

I wonder what they'd name a minor league team based in Ashburn? The Ashburn Burning Ashes? The Loudoun Downtrodden? Or maybe The Suburbanites? (I can see it now, people yelling "go subs, go subs!) Maybe we could honor a historic figure with the Loudoun Hairy Birds (in honor of Harry Byrd).

[Tone509]

Originally Posted by normie

I wonder what they'd name a minor league team based in Ashburn? The Ashburn Burning Ashes? The Loudoun Downtrodden? Or maybe The Suburbanites? (I can see it now, people yelling "go subs, go subs!) Maybe we could honor a historic figure with the Loudoun Hairy Birds (in honor of Harry Byrd).

I vote for the Burning Ashes! lol

[540_804]

How big is baseball in Northern Virginia? I would assume the Washington Nationals and maybe even the Baltimore Orioles would have a sizable following in the region.

Im looking at at list of minor league teams and it appears that the Potomac Nationals in Woodbridge is the only minor league organization in NoVA. Is that correct?

I find it odd that the developers are aiming to field an "an expansion team of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball" (which is not affiliated with MLB). Norfolk, Lynchburg, Danville, Salem, Bristol, Pulaski, and Woodbridge all have teams that are MLB-affiliated. Richmond did as well until 2008 and they are looking to bring back another team in the upcoming season.

It seems like the developers would try to field a team affiliated with MLB. The population of NOVA could certainly support it. Im fairly certain that with a development of this caliber, several teams would be willing to relocate and the affiliation with MLB would likely garner much wider public support than a non-affiliated team, especially if the minor league team were affiliated with the Nationals...

[cdmurphy]

I know some people out here in Loudoun go to Frederick Keys games (in Maryland) because they're not that far from us - plus they have a peanut-free night each season.

[Tone509]

Some of you may remember that when the Nationals were first coming to town, there was a group out in Loudoun (or was it Fairfax?) that proposed a development called "Diamond Lake" that would have centered around a major league baseball stadium. While that didn't pan out - could you have imagined the traffic? - apparently the feasibility study must have shown that there are enough baseball fans deep in Loudoun to support a scaled-down effort.

[normie]

Originally Posted by Tone509

I vote for the Burning Ashes! lol

It would make a great cheer...

Go Burning Ashes! We're HOT! We're SMOKIN'! And we're not JOKIN'! Go Ashes!

[normie]

Originally Posted by Tone509

Some of you may remember that when the Nationals were first coming to town, there was a group out in Loudoun (or was it Fairfax?) that proposed a development called "Diamond Lake" that would have centered around a major league baseball stadium. While that didn't pan out - could you have imagined the traffic? - apparently the feasibility study must have shown that there are enough baseball fans deep in Loudoun to support a scaled-down effort.

I wasn't a fan of the Diamond Lake site, it was a very awkward location, IMO. The Kincora site seems a little more practical, since they've proposed extensions to a few different major roads. In theory, Kincora could relieve pressure on Rt. 7, since people could use it to cut through from the northern parts of Ashburn to Rt. 28.

All the people who live in Cascades would also have a direct route (Algonkian Parkway to Nokes). So that would keep all those people off Rt. 7, as well.

I'm not too worried about minor league games, but if they hold a big concert there, I suppose it could turn Nokes into a bottleneck. That wouldn't be too bad, though, the double loop around DTC would relieve pressure pretty quickly.