Fantasy Baseball

I have long indulged myself in fantasy concepts for local landmarks. Some examples: redoing the Columbia Flier building as an HGTV-esque Extreme Home and living there, redeveloping the Wilde Lake Village Center as “children's bithday party central” complete with bouncy castles,, transforming the Wilde Lake Village Center into a History of Columbia theme park…well, you get the idea. I just like brainstorming and sometimes my ideas lean a little on the wacky side.

That’s why I immediately recognized a kindred spirit in the writer of this tweet:

Move the Bowie Baysox to Howard County and introduce the world to the Columbia Crabs. Replace the dumbest parts of the Mall with a stadium. Who says no? They could keep like half the dang mall.

Well! That’s certainly an idea I had never thought of. I’m not particularly a sports fan, though I wouldn’t want to prevent others from enjoying them. In contemplating this suggestion I had two questions:

What would that do to traffic?
What exactly are the dumbest parts of the Mall?

Remember, this is not a serious proposal from County government. This is a (light-hearted, I think) suggestion from a sports fan who prefers the Baysox to malls. So, in that same spirit, do you think that would be fun? Can you imagine a world in which that would work? Would tailgating in the Mall parking lots become a thing?

I’ve seen various ideas in the past for what might happen with the Mall real estate if the entire mall concept eventually becomes obsolete. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a stadium proposed.

A mall-stadium hybrid. Hmm. Not sure I can quite wrap my brain around that but I’m curious to hear what my readers think. Is a sports venue the Next Big Thing that the New American City ought to have? Or are we just fine without one?

Come back tomorrow when I reveal how commenters responded to this suggestion. It isn’t what you might expect.

Comments

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else. Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

What Kids Are Thinking

It’s a Monday in February, and if you guessed that a lot of Howard County students have the new cell phone policy on their minds, you’d be right. It will mean big changes and it will be stressful, no matter how much good we hope it will do in the long run. But on this particular Monday cell phones might not be top of mind, as amazing as that seems. Some kids will go to school wondering if they or family members will be seized by ICE. Some will fear that their parents’ employment will be purged by the ongoing rampage of Elon Musk and his cronies through Federal Government. Some fear heightened and renewed racism as programs that supprted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are vilified and destroyed. Some worry that it soon won’t be safe for them to use the bathroom in school anymore. It goes without saying that some kids fear going to school every day because of the prevalence of school shootings. And look! Here’s something new to fear. That old hate group, Libs of TikTo...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog