She’s a baseball fanatic, but JLF’s Julie Tisdale isn’t happy with High Point’s latest swing at a stadium. Published at greensboro.com:
On Monday, April 3, as teams across the country opened their seasons in front of excited fans, High Point voted, 8-1, to spend $15 million on a downtown ballpark project. The whole thing will actually cost the city more like $30 million, but this was the first $15 million for land acquisition.
Wrong move. But why?
High Point should have steered clear of this project. Grant the zoning and permits and such that a private company would need to build the ballpark downtown? Sure. Work with them on parking? OK.
But as much as I believe that baseball is magical, I also know that it’s business. Local governments shouldn’t use taxpayer dollars to build ballparks for teams any more than they should build a store for Target or a restaurant for McDonald’s. These are private businesses, and the right source for funding them is private investors.
