Knoxville is trying to give people a reason to come to the city, other than for 6 weekends a year. Their newest idea is a planetarium for downtown. This is the latest in a series of ideas that have really worked well. Unfortunately, they've all worked for other cities. The last example was Knoxville's minor league baseball team. The old stadium was falling apart, hard to get to, no parking, and in the middle of a combat zone. The team asked Knoxville for help in building a new stadium.
This was it! Just the project needed to revitalize the city. Every corner of the city was scoured to find the perfect spot. A full complex was designed, with little leqague fields scattered around the minor league field. Truly, this would be a great thing for any community.
Then, disaster. The NIMBY virus struck with a vengeance. Everybody wanted to go to a game, but nobody wanted it to be located near them.
After being jerked around for a couple of years, the team went about 20 miles up the road....to Sevierville, where they are now settled into a jewel of a stadium. Attendance is way up from the old stadium, and growing, even with an increase in parking fees and ticket prices.
Instead of a baseball stadium, Knoxville is building a new convention center, right nex to the old one that couldn't draw a fly if you smeared it with honey.
Maybe they'll try a bowling alley next!
Note to Knoxville: When you're done jacking around on the planetarium, we've already got a nice spot picked out for it.
Posted by Rich at January 28, 2002 9:23 PM