Tagged: Randy Boyd

Op-Ed

Knoxville Baseball Stadium Is a Done Deal

[This is yet another letter not published by the Knoxville News Sentinel. It was sent to them on 11 May 2021. As I note below, the News Sentinel and other local media outlets seem to be heavily flacking the stadium project and so of course they are presenting little or nothing in the way of opposition opinion.]

Of course the baseball stadium is a done deal. In 2016, Mr. Boyd denied that he was planning to move the Smokies, but developments since then show that the publicly funded building of a stadium for him was in the works all along.

Jason Zachary implied this recently, saying that Boyd had worked with community leaders for years to “relocate the team to Knoxville as a tenant of a new sports and entertainment complex” at a Boyd-owned site. Zachary said that Knox County and Knoxville city officials were in favor. Now we hear that the support of community activist groups is being solicited, with promises of favorable considerations in the associated privately funded development.

Zachary asserted that the stadium would not lead to higher taxes for taxpayers. Well, due to (1) the realization that the tax base of the stadium complex district would not generate enough taxes to pay for the stadium and (2) the reluctance of state officials to create an even bigger tax district, the state decided to goose the project along by giving the new sports authority upfront “the same amount of money the expanded tax district was projected to generate over 30 years”, some $13.5 million dollars. Either that money was drawn from other, possibly worthier programs or Tennessee taxpayers are in fact paying more tax. Also, since that is state rather than local money, the state is disfavoring Sevier County taxpayers and favoring Knox County taxpayers.

State, county, and local officials, local TV stations, and the News Sentinel are flacking the stadium, claiming that it will be a community events center where, e.g., soccer games, concerts, and “sleepovers” could be held. But there seem to be plenty of existing venues for these activities. So the stadium is really a solution in search of a problem.

Op-Ed

Questions About Handicapped Access at the Proposed Smokies Stadium in Knoxville

[Update: When the Knoxville News Sentinel did not publish my letter below, I posted it here on April 7, 2021. However, they did publish it on April 14,  2021, i.e., more than a month after I sent it to them by E-mail. Usually if they are going to publish a letter they double-check with the author. They did not do that with this letter, so I had no idea they were going to publish it until it actually appeared in the newspaper]

[This is the text of a letter I sent to the Knoxville News Sentinel on March 10, 2021. They did not publish it, I suspect because they are boosters of the proposed taxpayer-funded baseball stadium. There seems to be substantial opposition to the proposal that the State of Tennessee, Knox County, and/or the city of Knoxville fund this stadium to the tune of $65 million plus $20 million for infrastructure improvements such as road modifications; however, it also seems to be a done deal since ground has been broken on the site of the stadium and the local television stations, city council, county board, etc., seem to be 100% in favor of building the stadium and the local news media speak of it as if the completion of the stadium were only a matter of time. Funding would be via a tax-increment funding scheme. The team is the minor-league Smokies baseball team, owned by University of Tennessee president and business owner Randy Boyd. Since the University of Tennessee has prominent football, basketball (male and females), and baseball and softball teams and since East Tennesseeans are most strongly interested in football, it would appear that there would not be a great interest in minor-league baseball. But Mr. Boyd, who has strong connections to state government from his former work as a commissioner, chairman of Tennessee Promise, etc., has clearly sold the powers that be on the feasibility of this venture. ]

Before Knoxville and Knox County accede to Mr. Boyd’s request that they build him a baseball stadium, more information should be provided. For example, we are told that there will be no public parking at the stadium and that no new parking garages or lots will be built. Patrons will have to park half a mile away or more in existing parking areas. There may be a shuttle to get them to the stadium and back, but it will undoubtedly cost extra.

Is it really expected that handicapped people will walk or roll for half a mile to the stadium? If there is a shuttle, will it be equipped with a wheelchair lift and other easy-access features? Otherwise, is it expected that a handicapped person will be dropped off at the stadium by his or her driver, wait for the driver to return on foot or by shuttle, and then wait again after the event for the driver to go fetch the car and return? If so, will there be a convenient dropoff/loading point (i.e., not competing with the able-bodied for space in the dropoff lane)?

Will there be convenient access at all entrances, or will handicapped people have to use a special entrance? Will there be an elevator to allow them to sit in the upper levels?

A modest proposal: if it turns out to be impractical for a handicapped person to attend a baseball game or other event at the new stadium, he or she should be given a refund on that part of his or her taxes (direct or indirect) that went toward the stadium, in view of the fact that this public facility would not be potentially usable by every member of the public – unlike, say, a library or a jail.