Cheney Stadium ‘village’ worth a look

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: February 13th, 2008 01:24 AM (PST)

If not for him, the idea of turning a cluster of public properties in Tacoma into a “recreational village” might seem far-fetched. But the Pierce County executive who looked at a gravel pit and saw a world-class golf course has proved that dreaming big on the public dime doesn’t have to be a folly.

Ladenburg’s vision for the Chambers Bay Golf Course paid off last week, attracting the 2015 U.S. Open to the windswept course in University Place.

Now he’s among the public officials exploring another ambitious vision: redeveloping a large swath of land that includes Cheney Stadium, Foss High School, Metro Parks Tacoma headquarters and Heidelberg Park.

Four public agencies — the City of Tacoma, Pierce County, Metro Parks and the Tacoma School District — are considering splitting a $150,000 tab to hire an urban planner who would assess the property near Highway 16 and 19th Street.

The planner would be given nearly free rein to envision a complex that would allow people to live, shop and play all in one spot. The only caveat: The high school building and Heidelberg Park would have to stay where they are. Nearly everything else on the 111-acre property would be fair game.

Sparking the discussion are the experiences of communities elsewhere that have leveraged the resurgence of minor league baseball to great economic development benefit. With the Tacoma Rainiers under new ownership and the team’s home field, the city’s Cheney Stadium, ripe for a revamp, officials are wondering whether a better baseball park could be a springboard to something more.

Ladenburg sees a mixed commercial and residential development with townhouses, apartments and shops situated around the baseball stadium and biking and walking trails. The idea is appealing to Metro Parks officials, who are looking for a place to site a swimming pool complex and for ways to make money on their holdings to support park development and maintenance.

The plan would have to clear some fairly high hurdles. It’s one thing to create a public asset from a barren wasteland; trying to rearrange chessboard pieces that are already in play is another.

Metro Parks might face the steepest uphill fight given that taxpayers have been grumbling about the district’s handsome headquarters building since it was built at the site 14 years old. Park officials might find it difficult to convince the public that it’s already time to move.

But the specter of controversy should not pre-empt a discussion of the highest and best use for one of the biggest parcels of public land in Tacoma. For a city that has been criticized for concentrating too exclusively on downtown revitalization, the area around Cheney Stadium could be a chance to spread the wealth.

Public officials, as stewards of public property, are right to explore their options — and, when warranted, to dare to think big.

Originally published: February 13th, 2008 01:24 AM (PST)