The Nashville Sounds downtown ballpark issue seems to be dead. That’s too bad.
Have we reverted to politics as it was in the early 1900s, when politicians would not allow ballparks to be built on valuable property and were instead built near city dumps, railroad yards, and meat-packing plants?
With teams playing in such poor locales, the fans came anyway, to enjoy the game that would become the nation’s favorite pastime. Professional baseball became recognized as a valuable community entity and businesses sprang up around ballparks because fans spent their money there before and after the games.
Memphis, Louisville, and Indianapolis have focused on ballparks as the central theme for development and built beautiful, fan-friendly stadiums. Steadfast fans, and a whole lot of new ones, flocked to the games and brought their families with them.
The riverfront thermal plant site in Nashville will eventually become a first-class commercial enterprise no matter who the developer is. I cannot explain the details for the pitchers’ duel between Streuver Brothers and the Sounds, but I do know that a tenant was ready to move into a finished ballpark.
We can allow the Sounds to remain at dilapidated Greer Stadium or find a less-desirable place to build a park. But heaven forbid that we watch another dynamic city reach out and take our Sounds away.
