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