Based on comments gathered from commissioners for an upcoming article, it’s clear Forsyth County didn’t see the asset value of a 25-year-old baseball stadium. That’s why they took a pass on part ownership of Winston-Salem’sproposed downtown ballpark.
It’s an important point when you consider the fact that a slew of buildings 30 years and younger have been abandoned and torn down. Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. The Charlotte Coliseum awaits the wrecking ball a mere 18 years after it opened. Greensboro’s possible competition for the 2011 Women’s Final four is not the 24-year-old RCA Dome but the new Lucas Oil Stadium. The old dome will be a distant memory by then.
Civic centers’ life expectancy isn’t much higher. The Raleigh Civic Center, built in the 1970s, is gone. The 32-year-old Asheville Civic Center is barely clinging to life. The city wants to, and should, get rid of it.
So 25 years might not seem like such a long time. But it’s a lifetime for public venues.
