I couldn’t help but think about what the future might hold for Winston-Salem’s downtown stadium deal as I read this Uptown paper of record article on the uncertainty surrounding the Triple-A Charlotte Knights and their unhappy domestic circumstance down in Fort Mill:
The franchise left Charlotte in 1989 after its attendance had fallen to 1,700 fans per game. After a season in a temporary home, the then-Class AA team moved into the $12 million Knights Stadium, paid for by owner George Shinn and given to York County in exchange for $5.6 million worth of road and utility improvements around the stadium.
The Knights continued to maintain and operate the stadium, and York County received a portion of the money raised through ticket sales and parking. (Last year, the team paid the county $160,000.)
At the time Shinn and the county made their deal, there was talk of the stadium being a centerpiece of a complex of restaurants, offices and condos near Gold Hill Road along I-77. Shinn predicted average attendance of 7,000, and the team approached 6,000 after graduating to Class AAA and winning an International League championship in 1993.
Attendance, however, fell 21 percent the next four years, and the restaurants and condos never arrived.
The article also noted that “Knights Stadium, now almost 20 years old, is the oldest unrenovated facility in the International League.” Remember that that the City of Winston-Salem takes over ownership of the downtown after 25 years. Admittedly there are three major differences in the circumstances between Winston-Salem and Charlotte —- location, location and location. The urge to move the team to downtown Uptown Charlotte is part of the nationwide movement to rehabilitate downtown areas with sports stadiums serving as anchors, thus making suburban venues like Knights Stadium obsolete.
Winston-Salem has its downtown site, but that doesn’t eliminate the possible scenarios that could evolve over the next 20 years. Declining attendance, a deteriorating stadium and lack of surrounding development —- a problem with Greensboro’s New Bridge Bank Park —- somehow cause a team owner’s eye to wander.
And taxpayers find themselves stuck with a stadium nobody wants to use. Some might accuse me of being a naysayer. I also readily admit that Greensboro’s stadium has so far been successful even without surrounding development. But this is a real scenario — because it’s happening for real down in Fort Mill.