NYT parachutes into High Point to take a look at the new taxpayer-funded baseball stadium, which city leaders hope will revitalize downotwn:
On a recent evening, the Rockers were getting ready for a professional baseball game at BB&T Point, the new multipurpose stadium in High Point, a small city about 90 miles west of Raleigh.
On a bulldozed lot just behind the giant scoreboard, a developer was preparing to break ground for a condominium. And beyond the condo site, an old brick textile mill will soon be turned into a hub for furniture makers and design professionals. Also in the offing: an office and retail building, a hotel, apartments and an events center.
They’re all part of an evolving master plan to create a new downtown district for High Point, a city known as the home furnishings capital of the world because of its biannual furniture market, which attracts exhibitors and buyers from across the globe.
“We are the catalyst project,” Ken Lehner, president of BB&T Point and the Rockers, who play in the independent Atlantic League, said on the main concourse of the 4,000-seat stadium.
NYT mentions the $36 million price tag for the stadium, but does not mention the fact that the money was borrowed.
