Batter Up!

Now that the Golf and Gardens is gone, here’s an idea for the new GreenJacket’s stadium: put it at the depot. Sure it’s small (about an acre small by most accounts), but that doesn’t mean the plans can’t be changed. Obviously, Cal and Company are partial to their original idea, but that idea is about eight blocks down Reynolds and it’s fading fast. Besides, let’s not forget that Cal didn’t get to be Cal by taking his ball and going home just because things didn’t go his way. He played in something like a million consecutive ballgames, and you don’t do that if you’re thin skinned. While there are certainly plenty of intangibles, things weren’t all that set in stone down at the Golf and Gardens either, so let’s drop the politics and the can’t do attitudes for a minute and give this thing a look. For one thing, that part of downtown could really use the traffic. And talk about infill. Build a baseball stadium beside the river at the Fifth Street Bridge and you immediately shore up lower Broad Street. Suddenly, there’s more than just Luigi’s “down there.” There’s parking and people and some of the crappy stuff gets replaced by shops or bars or restaurants. And the Fifth Street Bridge, which has been slated by many to be a pedestrian bridge anyway, already plays a major role in Augusta Tomorrow’s Master Plan when it comes to unifying the Augusta and North Augusta. Imagine what it could do if it dumped out into a baseball stadium. Think of the view as you cross over the river, the boats in the water, the kids waiting for the long ball. Think of the stuff that would develop on the other side. In the space of a block or two you’ve got the Marina, St. Paul’s and the historic depot, a long, beautiful brick structure with exposed beams and an authentic, honest charm. Imagine incorporating the depot into the design of the stadium itself. It would be a hell of a lot more appropriate to Augusta than the riverboat theme they had planned for the Golf and Gardens stadium. Forget the frill and build a stadium, just a stadium, and you could easily shave off that acre. Think of it — fans walking through a bit of Augusta history on their way to have a hotdog, a beer and a few innings worth of escape. Let’s play two!You Might Also Like: