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USC’s stadium solution is obvious

Capital City Stadium can give university what it wants at less cost than new park.


By RON MORRIS (Granted I hate this guy, but this is a good idea!)

Columnist


NOW THAT PROFESSIONAL baseball is out of Columbia’s and USC’s hair, the two can partner to give coach Ray Tanner’s Gamecock baseball program the facility it deserves.

That place is Capital City Stadium.

Before dismissing such an idea, consider the possibilities that exist with the city of Columbia donating the existing stadium to USC and the school’s athletics department contributing $5 million in renovations.

USC would have a 6,000-seat stadium close to downtown Columbia. With renovations, USC would have skyboxes, new clubhouses, coaches’ offices, weight-training facilities, improved concessions, a better playing field, upgraded lighting and adequate parking.

In other words, Capital City Stadium would be a major improvement over Sarge Frye Field at about one-third the cost of building a new facility. Such a move would eliminate any chance of professional baseball returning to Columbia, which would appeal to USC.

Sarge Frye Field has served USC well for 34 years, but it has become inadequate to meet the needs of a program that annually contends for Southeastern Conference and national championships.

USC’s feasibility study showed that renovations to Sarge Frye are cost prohibitive. Parking is virtually non-existent. The playing field has severe drainage problems. With additional bleachers, seating reaches only 3,500. Concession areas are inadequate, at best.

If baseball fans remove their garnet-shaded glasses, they can see that Capital City Stadium —- with no renovations —- is a better facility than Sarge Frye Field. With necessary cosmetic surgery, Capital City Stadium could be the pride of USC.

In its attempts to build a new facility, USC has had difficulty finding land and with securing the $10 million to $15 million necessary to construct a stadium that would make Tanner happy.

The Capital City Bombers, who on Friday officially moved to Greenville, paid the city of Columbia an annual lease of $20,000 in addition to one-half of all parking fees beyond $10,000 each season. This past summer, the Bombers paid the city $25,000 in parking fees.

Mayor Bob Coble has offered free land to help USC build a stadium. It stands to reason that he could persuade the city to let USC operate Capital City Stadium without a lease. The parking revenues might be needed for the city to continue paying the debt on previous renovations to the stadium.

In any joint-venture proposal, USC was most concerned about having control over operation of the facility. That would not be an issue with Capital City Stadium. Through its lease, the Bombers controlled the stadium to the point of staging other events, such as the Hootie and the Blowfish concert this past summer.

The infrastructure of Capital City Stadium is sound, and it seats 5,845. Fans are much closer to the action at Capital City Stadium than Sarge Frye Field, which has an expansive foul territory behind home plate and down both lines. Capital City Stadium also is a much more comfortable place to watch a game, aided by its roof over seats behind home plate.

The 800 parking spaces at Capital City Stadium are adequate for crowds up to 3,000, which would take care of most USC home games. Also, that number of spaces exceeds by about 700 the number at Sarge Frye Field.

The lighting of Capital City Stadium’s playing field has not met low Class A minor-league standards for years, yet it is far greater than the candle lighting at Sarge Frye Field and easily would meet necessary standards for college baseball.

Capital City Stadium’s playing field is outstanding, despite reports to the contrary. In fact, the stadium earned a reputation over the past two summers for having one of the top playing surfaces in the South Atlantic League.

The problems with the playing surface were overdramatized by Rob Cohen, who purchased the Bombers in 1998 and began publicizing the stadium’s shortcomings in an effort to push the city toward building a new stadium. The most recent ownership group poured thousands of dollars into correcting the field’s problems. USC would inherit a field superior to Sarge Frye’s.

Concession areas at Capital City Stadium are adequate to serve crowds up to 2,500. Part of the $5 million in renovations would have to go toward improving concession areas.

That easily could be taken care of by extending the back of the current structure to construct skyboxes and a press box that would run atop the stands from first base to third base. The extended area beneath those skyboxes would provide an additional 10 to 15 feet of concourse area and concessions.

An ample amount of brick around the current structure and beautification of the exterior with trees and shrubs would leave USC with a facility that its fans would love to call home.

It is an idea worth considering, one that makes far too much sense.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate...a/10888492.htm

Yeah they would definitely need some serious renovations, it looks like crap currently...but i wouldnt mind going to a couple of games there

I haven't always agreed with Morris's columns but he makes some very good points in the article. Hard to argue with the logic on this one. I don't care where they put a new stadium, I just wish they would do something SOON. I'm tired of hearing about it. Seems like this issue has been around forever.

Morris doesn't make any good points, IMO. USC wants to get into the Vista in order to keep the stadium on campus. It wants it right next to the stadium as well as the Greek Village and Wellness Center. Putting it in Capital City Stadium doesn't improve anything. USC could put $5 million into Sarge Frye to and would be far better off. The reason they don't is b/c they want a new stadium. Not a renovated one. Ron is going to criticize anything the University does b/c that's his niche. He's one of these idiots that think that it's the University's responsibility to ensure professional sports in Columbia. It's never the city's fault, rather the University's. Whatever.

I agree with you that USC will not move to Capital City Stadium because they simply want a brand new stadium to brag about. However, there's no doubt that if the options were to put $5 million into renovating the Sarge or $5 million into renovating Capital City Stadium, the latter option would be far better. I'm not sure how you could really add an extra 3,000 seats to the Sarge without doing some serious remodeling, and there goes your $5 million right away. If you put $5 million into Capital City Stadium it would basically be a beautification project and nothing else. I'm thinking $5 million in paint, bricks, and landscaping would create quite a beautiful stadium. The Sarge is no more convenient than Capital City Stadium for most people anyway (unless you live in Bates).

I think that they would be a lot better off at Capital City, than at the Sarge. If they put $5m into it they would have the top of the line in the SEC and winning bids for post season would be an every year occasion, provided the team keeps up with the winning tradition.

It was just my opinion that he does make good points throughout the article. I respect your opnions too and I most certainly understand how you could feel that way. I don't like some of his articles either because of the same thing you say. He critiques USC like it is an obsession and I'm for USC. I have gotten so p.o.'d at some of his editorials. Even so, the guy is a good columnist and this time he's right, IMHO. I read a article a few days ago in the State paper where Ron Morris was named South Carolina sportswriter of the year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He must be pretty good to receive that award. The only disagreement I have with this article he wrote is the playing field. Sarge Frye has always had an excellent playing field and from what I've seen it is in possibly the best shape now than it has ever been. I'm sure they could equal that standard at Capital City but I don't think right now they would inherit a better playing field than the one at Sarge. Capital City's would need some work. Personally, I would love to see them expand Sarge Frye. I'm sure there is a way to do it. Actually, I know there is a way. One way would be to put seats all the way around the Sarge. The only problem I see with the Sarge is parking and that is an issue now even without expansion. We wouldn't have that problem at Capital City Stadium. Capital City Stadium is an ideal spot too. It is established already for a baseball park and if they pump 5 million or even the 10-15 million that they have secured, it could become the best college baseball stadium in the country. The thing I like is it wouldn't take as long to renovate in my opnion as it would to build a new park in the Vista. I will agree with you that USC wants a new stadium though and all of this may not matter anyway. If that's the case then like Morris said, at the least it's an idea worth considering. I like the idea myself.

I second that. I think CC Stadium would be perfect with a little "TLC" of course.

There's a reason it won't happen. USC does not want to play there. It's a bad location next to a not so great area. The field floods real bad during rain storms. It would cost a few million just to fix that problem. If all it needed was $5 million to become so nice then why didn't the city just give that to the Bombers for them to stay. What the Bombers and the city were willing to contribute to the new joint stadium idea was close to that amount as it were. Yet, both wanted a joint stadium in the Vista with USC.

The Bombers plan to build a $12 million stadium in Greenville. Hell, if they could upgrade Capital City stadium for half that then why leave? Because, it would cost a lot more then that and would still only be a renovated stadium with very little parking and very little appeal. Ron Morris is an idiot appealing to readers who aren't up-to-date on the issues. Again, he doesn't make any valid points.

You were right.