CharlotteDave

They gave a progress report on the greenway at the county commission meeting Tuesday night, and it was pretty informative. Their spokesman confirmed that parts of the greenway will open before the entire project is complete. That was good to hear because the target date for full completion is spring of 2010. Overall, though, things seem to be coming along very well. Below is a link to the video(see the drop down menu for the greenway presentation) It sounded like they're fairly close to starting work on several different sections, and it was mentioned that when complete, the greenway would be connected from Cordelia Park all the way to Freedom Park. http://mecklenburg.granicus.com/MediaPlaye...amp;clip_id=641

I saw that article in yesterday's Observer. One thing that really caught my eye were the comments towards the end by the mayor(excerpt below). It seems to imply there might be a possibility they would consider moving the streetcar plan ahead of one or both of the other two projects. Based on what little I know about it, which is very little, I might would favor that idea. From what I understand the streetcar plan is less complicated and less expensive compared to the Northeast rail line. From the Observer: McCrory said it's not a problem that CATS is studying building three rail projects at the same time. "We have three corridors being studied on a parallel track," McCrory said. "We don't know the conclusion. In the end, the strongest will survive."

A few more photos of Freedom Park now that the cherry trees are in full bloom:

You hear different things from different people. It seems like they're still talking 2010 for having all aspects fully completed and open to the public. On the other hand, the group sponsoring the Captain Jack sculpture has said they hope to have that ready by spring to summer of 2009, so it sounds like some parts may be open before others. Looking at the photo above, it's hard to imagine that section not being ready a year from now. Supposedly they're planning to start work on the fountain any time now.

The creek was really looking good the other day. Maybe some day this stretch of greenway will look as good in its own way as the one a few minutes away at Freedom Park.

I took these photos Saturday at Freedom Park on what was an unbelievable early spring day: Freedom Park Greenway:

I noticed they have a pretty interesting article and video about the greenway on the WSOC website. Apparently they're about ready to began work on the fountain and have now completed the stream restoration at that section of the creek. We continue to hear different things from different people concerning the projected timetable for the project. The woman in the video mentions 2010 for the full completion date, but a couple months ago when the Captain Jack Sculpture was donated to the county, they said they hoped to have it ready for the expected opening of the greenway in spring to summer of 2009. Perhaps it will open in stages. I'd be curious to know which part of the project will come next: the section of creek behind the Target-Home Depot or the CPCC section?

No, they've always planned to move forward despite the threatened lawsuits by Reese. Otherwise, they could have never even contemplated playing in 2009. They have said they've pretty much given up on having the park ready for opening day 2009 but that they hope to play there at some point during that season.

Things have been pretty quiet lately on the Knight's front, but there is this new article in the Business Journal. The full article isn't available yet, but it does mention their hopes of going after the ACC Baseball Tournament in the future and some news about parking. Article Given the ambitious timetable, still shooting for a 2009 opening, I'm beginning to wonder when the Knights are going to start construction. I do seem to vaguely recall reading something about an environmental study that would take about a month, so maybe that's the answer.

Here is the view from the creek in that section:

Concerning the Captain Jack sculpture, I looked around the area today and I believe that the vacant lot(pictured below) across from Thompson's Park on one side and the Blumenthal Arts building on the other side must be the planned location. I also got my first look at the greenway in about a month and a half today. To the naked eye, it doesn't look like much has been done lately, but I did notice that the section below the bridge across from the Target-Home Depot center looks a little wider than it did before. They haven't started work yet on any of the other sections. From earlier today:

I just saw the replay of last week's county commission meetings when they donated the Captain Jack sculpture. Towards the end of the presentation, they said they hoped to have the sculpture ready for the opening of the greenway in spring to summer of 2009. To me that was good news, a little sooner than I had expected. It must mean they're ready to start work on some of the other sections any time now, if they haven't already.

It looks pretty impressive, although I had the idea for some reason that it might be even bigger. It is definitely a good idea, though, and a worthy subject for a monument. Regardless of the controversy about which document Captain Jack carried to Philadelphia, it was a dramatic and impressive story. Hopefully it will help to make more people aware of Charlotte's impressive early history.

I see where our city council members were in Greensboro the other day getting the grand tour. Among other things, they visited the popular minor league ballpark that opened recently in uptown Greensboro and also one of their other parks. Article

I like that logo and found this grainy old photo of the real thing. I saw several photos of it recently when I looked through some old Charlotte Observer archives at the main library. Speaking of that, I need to correct one historical tidbit I mentioned in a previous post concerning the original ballpark on Mint St. That park, Wearn Field, actually opened in 1908, not 1901 as I had said earlier. Before that, they played at Latta Park, starting in the 1890's, which is where Moonlight Graham played for the Hornets (1902 team photo) The article in the paper that day in 1908, talks of the team being driven through town on a streetcar accompanied by a brass band and most of the stores in town closing at 3 o'clock for the special occasion. Now hopefully, just a little over 100 years later, starting in 2009, we'll be seeing a similiar scene, except in this case the light rail will be taking the place of the streetcar. In 1908 the mayor threw out the first ball, but maybe this time, Jerry Reese can do the honors. Babe does Mint St.

If Don Beaver and company were to become interested in trying to get the Hornet's name back, they could certainly go a completely different direction with the logo: Rather than the bug thing , they could go for the historical angle or the baseball angle, given the long baseball history the name has in Charlotte. The logo for the 1909 Charlotte Hornets was a bee hive. Perhaps a few editorials in the sports page could help to get some people thinking about it.

One interesting note about the site for the new ballpark: Apparently it isn't far from where Charlotte's original minor league park, Wearn Field, was located on South Mint St. It was the home of the old Charlotte Hornets from 1901 to 1939. I've read they once drew four thousand people to watch Babe Ruth play in an exhibition and one of their early stars was none other than Moonlight Graham, the real life version of the Field of Dreams character. Given this history, that is one reason I'd love to see them change the name back to the Hornets once they move into the new park, but I know it won't likely happen for a variety of reasons. The name, Knights, while not a bad nickname, is strongly associated with the Ft. Mill saga, so it might arguably be a good idea to start fresh with something unique to Charlotte.

Normally I'd be more sympathetic to Reese because I think Charlotte is closer to being ready for major league baseball than many give it credit for. In this case, though, I completely disagree with what he's doing. For one thing, most of our city leaders don't agree with him that Charlotte could support another pro franchise right now, but most importantly is simply the reality of the current situation in major league baseball: Most of Baseball's struggling franchises from recent times now have new ballparks or new ones on the way: The most recent was the Tampa Bay franchise which reached an agreement a few months ago for a new ballpark in the St. Pete area. Meanwhile, there are no current plans for expansion, so that would appear to be at least a decade away. It would seem to leave the Florida Marlins as the only team that would be even a remote possibility to move to Charlotte, and there is no indication they have any interest in doing that. Therefore, it seems clear to me that Charlotte's best bet, both in terms of its minor and major league prospects, is to build this new ballpark and quickly become one of the national attendance leaders. If that happens, Charlotte would likely move very quickly to the top of the list of future expansion candidates. At this point, that's about all you can hope for, and hopefully in the meantime we'll have a great minor league ballpark to enjoy.

Whether it's a baseball park or some other project, not everyone will be interested. However, it is over 70 nights a year of good family entertainment at an affordable price. That's not to mention probably getting the ACC Baseball Tournament off and on and various amateur events.

The article I mentioned earlier from the Business Journal is now fully available to non subscribers. It paints a very encouraging picture including the following quote from Max Muhleman: "It's almost a romantic reaction to baseball when you talk about having it downtown," Muhleman says. "The business community, from what we found, will embrace it in a big way." article from Charlotte Business Journal

Most people have probably seen it already but here is the link I'm far from an expert on the topic, but from what was said last week it appears the Knights are planning to move ahead with construction until someone tells them that they can't. Concerning another aspect of the Knight's situation, there is an article in this week's Charlotte Business Journal that talks about how the business community is expected to be very supportive, but I'm not a subscriber, so I was unable to access the full article.

According to a story on WBTV news last night, it looks like they're finally doing what some here have suggested. I only caught part of the story, but apparently Reese has received a letter informing him that he'll be held personally accountable for all expenses if he continues going forward with these lawsuits. To paraphrase Reese, he said he wouldn't be detered by threats, but that it does show people what it's like to fight city hall. It's good to see that they're starting to fight back a little bit.

Now that the deal is done, I thought some might be interested in this old article from the Charlotte Business Journal, the Feb 7th issue. It has a question and answer session with Bruce Miller from HOK, who is leading the Knights stadium - design team. Talk is cheap, but I have to say I like his basic philosophy. I just hope the new ballpark ends up being one that has a little bit of personality or flavor to it. From my experience following baseball, the backdrop seems to be far and away the biggest factor in determining that, so the fact that this ballpark will have a pretty dramatic view of the Charlotte skyline is encouraging. Below is one excerpt from the article quoting Bruce Miller: "I'm not sure, but I think some of the initial concepts are very strong in terms of the orientation of the park, its ability to open up to the public park, the street. I think that's going to be very unique to this park. It's very, very close to the downtown core. And so I think the skyline, in some of the studies that we did, even surprised us and caught our attention as to how close it is, and how much it really is going to feel like an environment of the ballpark. It's really exciting to us that you start to create outdoor space based on the surrounding buildings." I've lived my entire life in Charlotte and have attended a lot of sporting events, both minor and major league, but my best sports memories are of minor leauge baseball in old Crockett Park and before that when it was known as Griffith Park. There may have been individual moments with either the Hornets or Panthers that were more thrilling, but in a collective sense, those days in the old ballpark were the best. I just hope they can capture that same type of feeling with this new ballpark, and hopefully even better.

It turns out the Knights, barring some sort of court injunction, are still planning to have the new park ready at some point during the 2009 season. I found the following excerpt at the WBTV website: The General Manager of the Knights told WBTV News he has all but given up on having opening day in Charlotte next year. However, they are hoping to start playing baseball in Center City during the 2009 season.

I saw the same thing. They're moving the team to Gwinnet County, Georgia, not far from Atlanta. What is interesting, though, are some of the details of the deal as reported in the Atlanta Constitution. They have to have the new ballpark ready by March 9. 2009. That's despite the fact one would have to think they're not as far along in their planning as the Knights are. Should that give us some reason for optimisim that the new Charlotte ballpark could be ready for the 2009 season? Unfortunately, that isn't what we've been hearing, but there hasn't been any official word yet. Maybe we'll hear something after tonight if everything is approved. Article