March 25, 2006
Fulton Gas Works
East Main and Williamsburg Avenue
The city thinks it wants to put a baseball stadium in my neighborhood, but they're not thinking about it very clearly. The thinking, or lack thereof, has been going on for a while and the ideas aren't getting any better. The site they're looking at now is the old Fulton Gas Works, snuggled up by the river on the far side of Church Hill from downtown.
Richmond actually has a baseball stadium in a great site for a baseball stadium, or at least the site where there's been a baseball stadium for decades, so we're all used to it, for God's sakes, why change? This is Richmond. We don't do change. If they must have a new stadium, I wish they'd put it there. Unfortunately, the president of VCU has said he wants the Diamond for VCU. Trani's talks with the city tend to go along these lines:
Trani: "I want to knock down all those art deco buildings downtown and replace them with bland glass and concrete boxes."
City: "Okay! Go for it."
Thus there is now some concern in the neighborhood.
The Fulton Gas Works site lies in the V-shaped stretch of land between East Main and Williamsburg Avenue, separated from the nearest interstate by a couple railroad crossings and many two-lane city streets. Here's a handy map. Something not readily obvious from the map is that the site is in a flood plain, along with a park and residential development. (Why is there a housing project in the flood plain?) Also, since this was a coal-burning facility, there's some concern about how toxic the dirt is. But wait, there's more! The combined sewer overflow drains out through Gillies Creek, which runs right through the site. This means that when there's a heavy rain, the sanitary sewage (e.g. poop and pee) ends up in the storm sewers and the whole mess drains out into the river right here. Yummy.
The baseball people seem to be aware of all these issues and more. I'm glad somebody is.
There's yet another problem with the site, the mysterious nasty smell which often wells up from the river, through Shockoe Bottom and up into Church Hill. Okay, it mostly only happens on days when a low pressure system is passing through. We get so few of those. Hah. Are they going to hand out noseclips at the gate when people come to watch their baseball game or concert? (This is supposedly going to be a multi-use facility. But these concerts won't be noisy or bother the local residents in any way. No siree!) Will the baseball team have to use the opposite of Breathe-Rite strips?
One of the days when I was down taking pictures at the site was a stench day. I saw these guys with briefcases walking around down there. Developers? I hope so, and that they were saying, "What's that smell?"
I hope they find a better place for the stadium. I'd like to see the city stick to city stuff. How about environmental cleanup? Elimination of the nasty smell? Improving the roads and public safety problems? Maintaining the neighborhood parks?
I'm dreaming.
533 words | March 25, 2006 04:55 PM | Because I said