The city’s arena vs. stadium debate is proceeding on twin tracks of more review.
Council members last week approved without comment a $75,000 contract to hire J&P Consulting to help the city study and define whether an arena needs to serve more as an entertainment venue or large-scale community center. The Duluth-based firm also will help evaluate several sites under consideration by studying available acreage, traffic flow and parking capacity.
Another aspect of their work will include determining the best practices standards for parking, number of restrooms and catering needs.
Council’s approval of the consultant is on track with City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney’s timetable, provided last August, which estimates the consultants would have six months to develop a concept. Small-Toney’s timetable estimated that a recommendation would be presented to council by March 2013.
As council ponders an arena, members also plan to continue evaluating a potential baseball stadium. Having returned from a June 22 day trip to visit Parkview Field, a minor-league baseball stadium in Fort Wayne, Ind., they are discussing a bus trip to Greenville, S.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; and perhaps Charlotte, N.C.
“This is one of the biggest decisions we’ll make for our community in our lifetime,” said Mayor Pro Tem Van Johnson, “so obviously, the more opportunity we have to look at facilities the better to help us in our process as we evaluate the needs of our community.”
Greenville, about four hours northwest, has the newest stadium, which opened in 2006. That city has sparked particular interest for Savannah’s council because its downtown has a 15,000-seat indoor area, the BI-LO Center, and Fluor Field, which was built through a public-private partnership. The city provided $8.5 million for the land and the streetscape improvements around the stadium. The team and a partnering developer contributed $15.5 million for the stadium, plus
$5.2 million toward mixed-use development.
A subtle shift
When council members flew to Fort Wayne last month, most weren’t committing to a stadium.
After touring the venue, seeing the enthusiastic crowds and hearing the praise from Fort Wayne business and government leaders, the tenor of the conversation changed.
A baseball stadium/outdoor venue is worth exploring, they agree.
Almost in unison, they echo one reservation.
Council has to honor a commitment to voters, who in 2006 approved a special purpose local option sales tax promoted with the promise that citizens would get a new arena.
“The city engaged the voters and promised an arena, and I think we should stay on that course and give the voters an arena first,” said Alderman Tony Thomas.
Alderwoman Mary Ellen Sprague concurs, but added a thought other aldermen are considering: Finding a way to build both. If Hardball Capital, owners of the Sand Gnats and the Fort Wayne team, really want a new Savannah stadium, Sprague said, it is likely to get done sooner if it’s paired with an arena.
She believes there can be efficiencies because of shared parking, concessions, security stations and staging requirements.
Jason Freier, chief executive officer of Hardball Capital, agrees a combined stadium/arena has worked for other cities, but he says there are pluses and minuses to consider, especially from an economic development standpoint.
Hardball’s stadium model works around developing the area around a stadium with retail, condos and hotels, which can further drive sales tax and bed tax for a city. An adjoining arena, Freier said, requires additional space and parking, making it harder for the cozier, mixed-used model Hardball has developed in cities such as Fort Wayne.
Having an arena separate from a stadium, he said, also creates movement between the two venues, rather than concentrating patrons in one section of downtown.
Mayor Edna Jackson promises the city will hold a town hall meeting to get citizen input on an arena and stadium. Until then, she’s getting unofficial feedback.
“Even as I walk around town and talk with people at other events, I’m listening to see what they’re saying about it,” she said. “I appreciate it because it helps me form my opinions.”
Other sites
At this point, there is no promise a stadium or arena would be built downtown.
The Sand Gnats have proposed building on the Savannah River Landing site, a 54-acre site east of the Savannah Riverfront Marriott. The property has lain fallow since 2008, when the real estate bust crippled the original investors.
Any agreement would require the participation of PSP Investments, the Canadian company that has management control of the property.
The city could pass on that site completely, build only a stadium there or build both on a shared site.
The riverfront property isn’t the only location under consideration. An arena study committee appointed by the city manager also has reviewed a site on the west end of River Street near Fahm Street, which could handle arena and stadium.
Another option would be a stadium on Savannah River Landing and a renovated arena at the Civic Center.
Two other sites still in play as arena locations are property off west Gwinnett Street and acreage southwest of Interstate 95 and Ga. 204. The site off I-95 has backers who see its potential as a regional facility, which could induce neighboring governments to share in its funding. The regional idea is one the city manager has outlined to council.
Jackson, Alderman John Hall and Alderwoman Estella Shabazz have been adamant about spurring development to create jobs, and most of council wants to see something happen at the River Landing site.
Council’s approval last month of a North Point hotel development around the old Georgia Power administrative offices on Bay Street will help with jobs, added retail and by contributions to the tax allocation district. The district, created in approved the River Landing development, allows sales tax generated in the district to be spent on capital improvements within the boundaries to further stimulate growth.
Sales and property tax from private development on the River Landing site would offset the $1.3 million annual payments the city will be making until 2032. That money is repaying $20 million in bonds, which were floated to start intersection and drainage improvements along President Street and General McIntosh Boulevard.
Given those circumstances, Thomas is one alderman ready to voice support for using that site.
“I’d like to see the stadium go there,” he said. “We have to do something. That sucking sound that taxpayers hear from the east is that black hole known as Savannah River Landing.”