2005-06-16 - 4:45 p.m.
On Sunday afternoon Phil and I went to a Colorado Rockies baseball game. They were playing the Detroit Tigers. I don�t really care about either team, but I wanted to see Coors Field. I�m always curious about how new ballparks fit into their surroundings and whether they truly contribute to neighborhood revitalization.
Actually getting to the game turned out to be more of a task than expected. We couldn�t figure out how to get to the gate where our tickets were on call and drove around for quite a while. You can get directly to that gate through the parking lot, but we didn�t want to pay the $20 to get into the parking lot. Finally Phil dropped me off by a side of the stadium. Getting to the gate from there requires going down several flights of stairs. Fine for me, but not exactly �accessible�.
Of course, by the time we got there it was the 4th inning and the will call ticket people had vanished. Fortunately, it was promo day and there were guys handing out little American flags. One of them went with Phil to some other gate to get our tickets.
Then a really nice lady came to push me in a wheelchair. We snaked through tunnels in the bowels of the ballpark and saw various behind-the-scenes rooms where players� kids hang out and stuff. It felt almost sort of surreptitious, although obviously they have disabled patrons all the time.
We came out into the middle and they�d set me up with total rock star seats. Right behind home plate; like you could call the pitches. A veritable teen fantasy. (I dissuaded Phil from trying to get on TV by doing something lewd.) Our section even had waiters to bring the food, which was surprisingly cheap in comparison to Fenway or Yankee Stadium. I got a chilidog and peanuts. I mean, it�s just not a real game without peanuts (well, maybe Cracker Jacks).
They came with a chair for me last after the game cause I wanted to check out the park a little longer. Coors is one of the new-school retro wave started by Camden Yards. Phil noted that stronger construction materials these days mean stadiums don�t need to have such a thick and heavy built feel. It�s real nice. There�s usually a view of the Rocky Mountains, but unfortunately it was overcast that day.
Did Coors Field actually contribute to the area�s vitality? The surrounding neighborhood, LoDo, certainly seems cool, whereas it was mostly seedy a decade ago. Indeed, Phil says that living there can be annoying cause the preponderance of hipster bars and restaurants means it can be hard to just get cheap take-out. (I can relate. I remember when living in Boston�s North End, now an �Italian� Disneyland tourist trap, what a big deal it was when a Chinese take-out place finally opened.)
But I also remember when living in the West Fenway last year, right near the ballfield, how game day visitors rarely walked across highway-like Boylston Street to spend money in real local businesses. There was a strangely small catchment area, a few bars right next to the park and a few chain eateries that tourists would be familiar with. Almost no one ever got as far as our house and the really nice park across the street, an apparently unmanageable four blocks away.
Lower Downtown doesn�t seem to have such a geographic barrier as Boylston St. But I do wonder whether public financing for Coors (and it was publicly financed, which is why it�s not covered in subsidizing advertisements like SF�s park) was an economically sound investment. On the other hand, return-on-investment isn�t what cities exist for. If Coors Field adds a certain coolness factor to Denver, maybe that�s enough by itself.
� 2005 Geoff Gladstone
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