The Phillies are coming off a pretty good 10-day stretch. After taking three out of four games from the first-place Atlanta Braves and then four out of six on the short road trip to New York and Montreal, it would be nice to talk about how well the team is playing these days.
Unfortunately, everything is overshadowed by the stadium issue.
Nothing Mayor John Street said during his televised address on Monday has changed my mind about his stadium proposal. I still don't think 12th and Vine streets will fly. There's just no way to justify the exorbitant cost, nor is there any way to overcome the neighborhood opposition.
Rich Westcott, author of Philadelphia's Old Ballparks, recently made a good case for the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. I stated my preference for South Philadelphia last year, and the Navy Yard proposal is actually better. It has all of the advantages of the sports complex — highway access, parking and public transportation — and it's far enough away from the neighbors that residents shouldn't object. And there are options for further development (restaurants, etc.) on that site.
I had also previously mentioned 30th Street, but infrastructure needs would inflate the costs. Phillies center fielder Doug Glanville also liked that area, and he wrote a thesis on it for an undergraduate class while he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania.
"It wasn't really a comparison of the different sites," said Glanville. "I didn't actually study the Twelfth and Vine (streets) site in Chinatown. I had read some editorials about Thirtieth Street, and I just wanted to look at it from the public transportation aspect. I reviewed some of those issues, and I thought that it was a good site. Everything kind of comes together there — Amtrak and the SEPTA regional rail system — so I felt that the access would be there from the public transit standpoint.
"There would have to be some adjustments for auto travel, (which) will increase the costs, and a lot of times (decisions) come down to costs and the timetable that (planners) are working with, and obviously there are a lot of political issues that have to be addressed."
The extra costs at 30th Street had me leaning toward the sports complex, but in light of the $1.2 billion figure pitched by the mayor, 30th Street would be much less expensive than Chinatown. The Schuylkill Expressway is certainly inadequate in that area, and there might not be any room for expansion. Also, the University of Pennsylvania had previously opposed the site.
"I don't think the university wants a stadium that close, so there are definitely some issues (to be considered), but I think the area would be revitalized," said Glanville.
The outfielder didn't have any one spot in mind when he wrote his paper because there were several options.
"I think they were looking at about four different sites in the area," he said. "They'd have to come up with the best place to put it, but there are a lot of possibilities, and where there's a will, there's a way to find the best place for it."
If the Chinatown site is scratched, would 30th Street begin to look a little more attractive?
"I think they should consider it, but there are so many issues," said Glanville. "You wish it was as simple as (which site has) the best access, but it might take five or six years to build something with so many details (to work out). Thirtieth Street would probably take a lot longer to build than if they decided to build it here (at the sports complex), but I've always liked the site because of the access.
"If people can get there easily, that just makes it more user-friendly. Look at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., or the USAir Arena. They have such good public transportation that people use it, and they don't have to deal with traffic jams."
But vehicular traffic and parking could be a problem at 30th Street.
"Yeah, but if you want those things, you can always address them," Glanville said. "It's an expensive project, no doubt, but it's a matter of planning."
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