Baseball stadium would have drawn businesses to Hughesville

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Working all the time, my wife and I took this as an opportunity to actually enjoy ourselves. As we were on our way to the game we noticed numerous signs going through Hughesville reading ‘‘Preserve Hughesville: Revitalize Not Rezone.” As we traversed down the highway we noticed all the capital improvements being done to Piney Church Road and Billingsley Road to accommodate the new stadiumfacility.

We approached Regency Furniture Stadium and the view of such a facility in, of all places, Southern Maryland was very impressive. Having lived in the area for 32 years I’ve seen the area go from a quiet town with one ZIP code to a metropolis of malls, restaurants and now a baseballstadium.

As I we walked around the stadium I could smell all the wonderful smells of the foods that I’m not supposed to eat any longer. I’ve got to watch what I eat so my wife still thinks I’m a good looking guy. I couldn’t help but notice all the kids who were working and they, for the most part, really seemed to be enjoying their jobs. Yes; these were teenagers. I couldn’t believe it either.

I looked around at all the different types of people at the game.

There were young families with their children, older couples in lounge chairs in the field directly behind the outfield where it only costs $5 to get a seat in the grass. The playground is strategically placed right next door to this field so a young family can bring the kids, have a great time without spending a fortune. Looking at the playground made me wish I had something like that to play on when I was a kid.

I looked around at all the advertising banners from all the big corporate sponsors who had advertised in the stadium. I noticed all the companies who had paid to buy corporate boxes to market their best customers. I noticed all the concession stands that have to be generating tax revenue for the county. As I looked around I had to wonder to myself what was there to fight about in having this in your neighborhood.

As I said, I passed numerous signs in Hughesville that said ‘‘Preserve Hughesville: Revitalize Not Rezone.” It’s hard for me to understand what the people of Hughesville were against in having the stadium in their area. Wouldn’t this have been one of the strongest ways to revitalize the area?

I went on the Preserve Hughesville Web site and have looked at all the ideas they have for revitalizing the area and they look nice but as a businessman what will be the draw? I’m sure that the people of Hughesville had their reasons for fighting the project. As I think about it, wouldn’t it have been better to work with people, then use the project to get mostly everything they wanted? Now the people of Hughesville are requesting the county to help them revitalize the area. They’ve got no leverage with the county and no draw for the people.

As the evening progressed I could smell the hot dogs, popcorn and the spring air. I could only think to myself, ‘‘What were the people in Hughesville thinking?”

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Bill Deavers, Prince Frederick