COULD CAPITAL STADIUM SOON BE REPLACED?
By Scott Pickford, Diane Becker and Tony Simpson, the Hapilopper City Herald
HAPILOPPER CITY – The concept of replacing Hapilopper City’s legendary concrete donut is one of the most unpopular ideas in Hapiloppian sport, but there appears to be some growing concern, from multiple parties, over the future of the 53-year old Capital Stadium, still seen as Hapilopper’s de facto national stadium.
The stadium has come into significant prominence in the last five years as the home of the Hapilopper National Baseball Team, the Hapilopper National Football Team and its successor Team Hapilopper. Some experts, in fact, have suggested that the success and popularity of both national teams have saved Capital Stadium from facing a wrecking ball, or a replacement. Every time one of those two teams compete against international competition in the old stadium, it is more often than not filled to capacity with over 60,000 screaming fans, a sensation that fans and players alike have said they would not want to lose.
Capital Stadium, several hours
before an HNBT game.
“If we replaced Cap Stadium with a baseball-only park, I think the national team would lose a bit of its charm,” said third baseman Leroy Hunnisett, who has started for the team since the beginning. “Part of the fun of coming here is being surrounded, as far as the eye can see, by your fellow Hapiloppians. They get a little rude, get a little wild, but that’s part of the fun.”
Hunnisett suggested a new ballpark would have a “sanitizing effect” on Hapiloppian baseball.
“This place is a throwback to a lot of people’s childhoods,” Hunnisett said. “It’s not the nicest park in Hapilopper. Far from it, in fact. The turf is too hard, the clubhouses – until this past offseason – were dingy and dirty, and the amenities are, shall we say, a little behind the times. But that’s part of its charm. People who come here to Cap Stadium don’t come here for amenities. They come here to see us whip up on another team, and if we went to some other park, it wouldn’t be as fun.”
Bill Norris, a season-ticket holder for the Hapilopper City Nationals since 1989, agreed.
“I think I’ve heard at least once per week for the last 20 years a sportswriter talking about how much of an antiquated dump Capital Stadium is,” Norris said. “They talk about wanting the Hap City government to let a team build a baseball-only park, but the thing is, we like this place. This old place is part of Hapilopper City’s heritage and it just wouldn’t be the same if they got rid of it.”
Officially, the National League of Hapilopper, who rents out Capital Stadium for the Hapilopper National Baseball Team, has taken no stance on the future of the park. However, James Parkhurst, commissioner of the NLH, has stated in the past that they have been in discussions with the Hapilopper City government, about a new ballpark.
In addition, rumors persist about the NLH’s look at other cities to host national team games. One rumor would put the HNBT at BankTrust Park, the widely-reviled park in the north Surrey suburbs. That park was controversially built several years ago as a replacement for another park in downtown Surrey, and has been criticized for its “artificial” atmosphere, as well as its ease of access, or more specifically, lack thereof.
In fact, the park is so unpopular among fans in the Surrey area that the NLH approved a second franchise in the area to utilize the old park in downtown Surrey.
Parkhurst has not commented on those rumors, but has stated in the past that they would like to help the Surrey Wolves, who play at BankTrust, an opportunity to use their park.
BankTrust Park, located in Surrey,
is the most unpopular ballpark in
Hapiloppian baseball.
Hapilopper City regulation could prevent baseball-only, football-only alternatives
Perhaps the biggest obstacle in the way of a baseball-only venue in Hapilopper City is a 1992 city code, popularly known as “The Camden Rule,” that prevents the city from approving public financing for stadiums meant for one specific sport.
Named for Jake Camden, the Mayor of Hapilopper City at the time, the Hapilopper City Nationals was contemplating the construction of a 45,000 seat, baseball-only stadium, while the Hapilopper City Metropolitans, the top gridiron team in Hapilopper, was contemplating a 70,000 seat, football-only stadium. Both teams wanted public financing for their two stadiums, which would have been built on the site of Capital Stadium around 1997 or 1998.
Camden, known as one of the most conservative politicians in Hapilopper at the time, argued that both stadiums would have cost taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $750 million, a price tag that he made clear he was not OK with.
“First of all, Hapilopper City residents already pay too much tax as it is to begin with,” Camden said in 1992. “We’re paying way too much on a road project that’s not going to be complete for another 20 years, and now these two teams want to build their own stadiums? What are we going to use them for when they’re not playing?”
Despite threats from both teams to move to other cities, the Hapilopper City Council passed “The Camden Rule” with a vote of 5-4, and has not been repealed since, despite repeated attempts from some Hapilopper City Council members.
One of those members is Anthony Burton, who represents the east-side 5th Ward in the Hap City Council. Burton argues that economic development has been stymied by “The Camden Rule.”
“By sticking with an antiquated multi-purpose stadium, we’re losing out on a lot of redevelopment in the area,” Burton said. “To build two different stadiums would be pricey, yes, but that price would be cancelled out by the economic development that would come from a revitalized area.”
Burton said he has spoken to representatives from the NLH and from the former Hapilopper Football Association about what they’d like to see in the area moving forward.
“They’ve talked about a joint effort,” Burton said. “On one end, you’d have a baseball stadium, about 43,000 seats and a nice view of the West River and Conyers just over the river. On the other end, you’d have a football stadium, 90,000 or so seats, maybe 100,000, that could host a World Cup final, an AOCAF final, a Cup of Harmony final, whatever.”
Burton said in between the stadiums would be high-end mixed-use real estate, including apartments, restaurants, pubs and stores.
“I get that such a project would cost a ton of money, but just looking at that price tag, we’re missing the big picture here,” Burton said. “We’re missing out on revitalizing the Capital Stadium district because some conservative thinks we’d be spending too much money.”
Camden, who was voted out of office in 2002, defended “The Camden Rule” by stating such stadiums would cost Hapilopper City taxpayers way too much money, especially when the city is working its way through several problems.
“I’ve said, since I was in office, that our infrastructure needs to be fixed before we think of paying for stadiums that we probably don’t need,” Camden said. “I understand the whole need for revitalizing the Capital Stadium area, but there is nothing stopping a developer from going in there themselves and building something new. There’s nothing stopping any of the sports leagues from doing the same.”
Camden also pointed out that “The Camden Rule” does not apply if such facilities are privately funded.
“A lot of people, and the media as well, either miss out or deliberately gloss over the fact that if someone wants to pay for it themselves, there’s nothing stopping them from building whatever they want,” Camden said. “If the Nationals want to build a stadium for themselves, if the national team wants to build a stadium for themselves, we’re not going to stop them if they pay for it themselves. I’ve said that from the beginning. What I have a problem with is when taxpayers have to pay for two expensive ballparks when they don’t need to.”
Stadium has seen renaissance, renovation in recent years
Partially from Hapilopper City’s resistance to fund new stadiums, the Capital Stadium Group has made do instead with renovating the old ballpark, something that the city government has been alright with funding instead.
One such renovation included new clubhouses for the home and visiting teams. The new clubhouses made their debut before the last NLH season, and features a number of amenities such as a large meeting area, televisions, a buffet area, and an open bar complete with a staff bartender for both the home and visitors, as well as ultra-modern showers and training areas.
The new clubhouses have received rave reviews from players, including from shortstop Jerome Hayden, who remarked on twii.tur that he “wanted to build something like this for (his) own home.”
Other renovations include “The Scouts Club,” a new plush area in the front few rows behind home plate, which includes a restaurant, buffet area and a bar; and new luxury boxes between the second and third decks.
There are also talks about putting in a more modern artificial turf surface, or even replacing the turf with a natural grass surface. Capital Stadium’s HCNTurf, first installed in the early 1970s, has been criticized over the years for its rock-hard characteristics, as well as its tendency to send baseballs bouncing wildly like superballs.
Capital Stadium has been packed
with fans for most HNBT home games.
A lot of the reason for the stadium’s resurgence in popularity has been its use by Hapilopper’s national sports teams over the years. Over 60,000 fans regularly pack Capital Stadium for baseball and soccer matches, and has become known as one of the loudest venues in Hapiloppian sports.
“The Pipe Dream”: Building a possible World Cup final host
One such motivator for building a replacement venue has been a possible stadium to host a World Cup final somewhere in the future. While nothing official has been announced, rumors have spread for years over Hapilopper’s desire to host such an event.
Per Hapilopper City regulations, the stadium would host both baseball and soccer, and per rumored World Cup Committee regulations, would have a seating capacity somewhere between 90,000 to 110,000, which would make it the largest non-auto racing stadium in Hapilopper.
There are also questions over where such a stadium would be built. According to recently-released documents, the Hapilopper National Exhibition Committee, which oversees the annual Hapilopper National Exhibition, has expressed interest in building the stadium on the Exhibition grounds, which are located on the northwest side of Hapilopper City.
If such a stadium was built on the grounds, HapEx Committee members have discussed the possibility of a “Hapilopper World Cup Exhibition,” which would move the National Exhibition and all its surrounding events, including the wildly-popular Super Skychief 500 NSSCRA race, to surround a World Cup Final located in the stadium. The stadium would also host the HC Nationals and the Hapilopper National Baseball Team.
Rod Hargrove, executive director of the HapEx Committee, told the Herald that any such stadium is merely in the planning stages right now.
“We’ve been talking about it for a few years,” Hargrove said. “We need to make sure it’s going to work for us before we commit to it. What will it mean for our events at HapEx? Will we lose the dirt track? Will we lose the agricultural grounds? Will we lose the technology center? What about the horse park? There’s so many questions that need to be answered before we put pen to paper.”
Hargrove also said, however, that they would love nothing more than to host a final of a major sporting tournament, such as a World Cup, or a World Baseball Classic.
“I think we can show the rest of the world that Hapilopper City can be one of the greatest hosts in all the multiverse,” Hargrove said. “But right now, it’s the pipe dream for all of us. Where will be we be in ten years? Will we have the stadium? Hard to say.”