A Diamond In the Rough

Gee, do you think there could be just a little more dissension and bickering with regard to a downtown ballpark? Excuse me, but did baseball suddenly become a blight in the community? I can't understand why there is so much negativity with regards to building a multi-faceted complex in the slums (and, really, that's what much of Shockoe Bottom looks like) that will bring thousands into the area.
Now, before I get a lot of complaints from Shockoeians(?), let me say, Shockoe Bottom has a few excellent restaurants, and a whole lot of potential. I'd love to have a reason to go down into that area on a regular basis, but for me (and a good many suburbanites) to drive 20 minutes or so into downtown Richmond, it's going to take more than restaurants.
Why not a ballpark? When Phillip Morris announced plans for a research facility downtown, you'd have thought that someone told Mayor Wilder that the Messiah was setting up his kingdom in Jackson Ward. So, let's get this straight, cigarette smoking is a better pastime than ball playing? That's the message I'm getting.
I'm fascinated listening to the callers on the Mac Watson program (1140 WRVA 3:00 - 7:00 PM). One listener told Mac that Shockoe was sacred ground. Too sacred for baseball, it would appear, but not too sacred for the drunks who vomit and urnitate behind the bars they crawl out of at two in the morning.
And where did all these history buffs come from. It seems that the mention of a ballpark has them crawling out of the woodwork, and phoning Watson's program in an effort to tout, and to preserve, and to honor the history in Shockoe. Funny, the schools never take kids on field trips down there. At least not when I was a kid. We'd go to Jamestown and Williamsburg and D.C., but no one ever thought of the historically-rich Shockoe Bottom.
And, now you've got all these reps from the city touring Louisville and their downtown ballpark. I guess the new riddle is how many Richmonders does it take to change the mind of a egomaniacal mayor?
Just build the ballpark and the surrounding complex. We'll all go down there, we'll enjoy a game, we'll eat and drink at the restaurants, and who knows, if you make me, I'll go look at something historical.