Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407290017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Boagzcyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Even on paper, it radiates warmth, and not just from the setting sun that will bounce through the brick-facade arches. It's a gem of a setting for this still imaginary diamond. Architects Bob Fry and ``Doc'' Shane of Kinsey Shane and Associates, rookies at baseball park design, have homered in their first at bat.
Municipal Field is 67 years old, but it remains a great place to watch a game. That's it. A new park will have that and much more. If a new park is ready for Opening Day 1995, only 25 games remain at Municipal. The anticipation of a new - and needed - park should add to what could be a nostalgic finish at the old yard, even though the Valleydale smokestack has crumbled.
There's also money to be made at Municipal by an enterprising artist. The sketches of the proposed ballpark struck a nerve of imagination. Wouldn't a rendering of Municipal Field be a piece of work some longtime fans would want? If an artist picked a home stand and sat and drew among the people and the posts, the work could be one of the best saves in the park's history.
With the Professional Baseball Agreement requirements on stadiums making some facets of Municipal Field obsolete, the Salem residents who go to the polls July 19 on the stadium referendum are reminded they won't only be voting on whether to approve a new ballpark's construction, but also whether to keep minor-league baseball in the Roanoke Valley.
In most ways, the PBA is a very demanding document, but there's no denying it has caused many new ballparks to sprout among baseball's bushes. If Salem builds the ballpark as drawn, it will get a stadium with not only more than the minimum Class A requirements, but a park with features fans might not think would be included in the $5 million price tag.
For instance, Shane is pushing for the same seats that occupy Baltimore's Camden Yards and year-old Harbor Park in Norfolk. They're expensive, $95 a seat, but they're the best. Perhaps the walls on the diamond side of the stands will be brick, like at Wrigley Field.
Perhaps the outfield distances will give Salem an asymmetrical ballpark.
With the park only on paper, many perhapses remain. One thing is certain: The wind will blow down the left-field line, from behind the Salem Civic Center. It will be a right-handed hitter's park. So, maybe the fences in right will be moved closer.
Obviously, pieces of the ballpark still are being discussed, and Fry and Shane welcome fans' input.
``We've listened to a lot of people,'' Fry said. ``The ballpark proposal has been a great communication tool. If people have a suggestion, we'll listen.''
Shane and Fry do want to put a stamp on the park that will make it special. For instance, at new Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine, when a Sea Dogs hitter homers, a lighthouse rises from behind the scoreboard and its light blinks.
So, when a Buccaneer homers in the new park - since so many fans seem to want to preserve the Municipal field scene - why not have a replica of the Valleydale smokestack emerge and have one of those musical Valleydale commercial pigs climb up and into the stack?
Only kidding.
However, it is the unique touch that will add to the park's ambience. Maybe an old-style scoreboard with a top that is sculpted to look like peaks and valleys. Who knows? Maybe this would be a good time for a nickname change for the club, too. With a new park and new attitude why not a new nickname, especially if there's a new major-league affiliation?
If it's not evident by now, you're reading the words of a ballpark fan. And Salem's ballpark, if it's built, would be one of the best in the minors. If Fry and Shane can work this kind of baseball magic with their pencils, maybe Buccaneers manager Trent Jewett should have them fill out the lineup card.
\ Write to Jack Bogaczyk at the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010.
by CNB