Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 23, 1995 TAG: 9501230092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: VIENNA LENGTH: Medium
If Major League Baseball picks Northern Virginia for an expansion team, the plan is to have a $250 million, 42,000-seat stadium for the 1998 season.
Fairfax and Loudoun counties are considering six sites for the future home of a team. Each site presents its own problems. A Tysons Corner site probably would be the most expensive and complicated because it is jammed with dozens of businesses, including four car dealerships, that would have to be bought out.
Fairfax County Supervisor Robert B. Dix Jr., a Republican and co-chairman of the county's site selection committee, said he thinks a Tysons Corner ballpark is worth considering.
``Tysons Corner is really the downtown of Fairfax County, and having a stadium in downtown Fairfax is an attractive idea,'' he said.
Three of the sites - one in Loudoun County and two in Fairfax County - are undeveloped and close to Dulles International Airport. None are next to residential areas, but they are close to the Dulles Toll Road and within the next decade could be served by rail.
So far, there has been little organized resistance to any of the proposed sites, perhaps because big league baseball in Northern Virginia seemed such a pipe dream.
``I don't think anyone is naive enough to think that because we have not had any opposition yet that there won't be any,'' said Loudoun County Supervisor Steve Whitener, a Republican.
Nevertheless, several residents have expressed concern about the two Fairfax locations near the airport.
``It has grown enough out here without a stadium,'' said Nancy Lanham, 47, who has lived in the Herndon area for 20 years. ``Even on a Saturday, the roads are backed up.''
Others welcomed the prospect of a ballpark close to home.
``The airport is right there, there is no housing close by and it is a big open space,'' said Andy Osorio, 27, of Herndon. ``Baltimore is too far to go for a baseball game.''
An owner of one of the Dulles-area sites in Fairfax - Richard Ferris - said he might consider selling his land for a stadium. But investors who are buying the second site apparently believe a stadium does not fit in with their plans.
``A stadium in Northern Virginia is fine and we would love to see it, but not at that site,'' said Jerry Phillips, a lawyer who represents the group.
Most of the land targeted in Loudoun County is owned by the Claude Moore Estate and Foundation, which also is willing to discuss building a stadium there, said J. Hamilton Lambert, a consultant to the foundation and estate. The property is west of the airport, south of the planned toll road extension and east of Virginia 659.
The other two sites under consideration, both in Fairfax, are next to the county government center near Fair Oaks and at the Army's Engineer Proving Ground near Springfield.
The government center site, which is close to residential areas, offers no immediate access to Interstate 66, and there are no plans to build commuter rail lines into the area.
The Engineer Proving Ground site is close to, but not within walking distance of, the planned Springfield-Franconia transportation center, which will have Metrorail and Virginia Railway Express stops. It is also next to heavily congested Interstate 95.
by CNB