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Published in the Savannah Business Report and Journal.
In the wake of the recent sale of the SandGnats to yet another out-of-town ownership group a Savannah Morning News Op Ed lamented the imminent demise of Grayson Stadium. That Editorial presented yet another example of the outdated thinking that has handicapped what would otherwise be a flourishing sports community here in Savannah.
The Editor’s main indictment of our hometown stadium is that it is a “WWII – Vintage facility,” and he argues that for minor league baseball to survive here we need to build a “modern stadium.”
In fact, this is just what cities around the country did in the 60’s and 70’s; tore up vintage fields and replaced them with impersonal suburban steel, glass and concrete. These became “modern parks” that were more car park than ball park. Vibrant energy was sapped from both the ballpark neighborhood and dying central cities surrounding it. The result has been an almost universal failure.
Truly modern 21st Century thinking is a return to smaller, more intimate, in-town neighborhood ballparks – exactly like what we already have in Daffin Park.
In fact, Grayson is the 2nd oldest continuously used minor league park in the country – which should be viewed as a source of pride, not scorn. No one would lament the age of Wrigley or Fenway. As most know, Grayson has hosted not only our current generation of superstars but legends like Ruth, Aaron and Robinson. I’m certain that if Shoeless Joe’s ghost wanders anywhere in Coastal Georgia it is in the Northeast Corner of Daffin Park. Still while Grayson admittedly is not Wrigley or Fenway, and while it certainly has its blemishes, the City’s first installment on its renovation is an excellent beginning to its Renaissance.
As a former managing owner of a minor league sports team, I’m clearly aware that (egos and community pride considerations aside) that ultimately the vitality of a facility comes down to whether a financial profit can be made in that ball park.
Grayson’s biggest problems are modern amenities, not the location nor the age of the super structure. The five (5) million the City has already invested addresses some of them (concessions and locker rooms). The fan experience would be greatly enhanced by adding large rotating ceiling fans beneath the roof to provide relief from summer evening heat and our beloved bugs. Grayson also needs air conditioned hospitality suites which are a guaranteed revenue generator particularly in party-mad Savannah, as well as comfortable club seating for season ticket holders. Add a few kid-friendly attractions and we would create a new-old Grayson for 1/3 the cost of a new stadium which are now running upwards of $ 45 million. In the process Savannah would proudly possess the very type of ballpark that every community in the country is trying to create, or more accurately, re-create.
In fact, some communities like Memphis and Greenville (SC) have gone so far as to build a housing component to act as an outfield backdrop to give their “ new “ parks a neighborhood feel that already exists at Grayson with Parkside. In fact, revenues for these additional renovations needed at Grayson could well be generated (without spending a penny of tax dollars) by privately creating such a modest development in the SE corner of Daffin Park; a corner that currently houses the rather incompatible and unattractive city maintenance equipment area that is already slated for removal.
Simply put, the 21st Century “ modern “ answer to our beloved and historic Grayson Stadium’s inadequacies is more aggressive renovations, not replacement nor relocation.