While I was a student at Michigan State University a few years back, Lansing opened a new minor league baseball stadium within spitting distance of the state capital, on a contaminated, former industrial site. The stadium brought hope and energy to a desperate downtown, inspiring a new array of bars, galleries and restaurants. Like so many aging manufacturing towns, Lansing has its share of social and economic challenges. But the stadium sends a loud and clear message that the city is still alive.

There are many examples in Ohio of new downtown baseball parks providing much-needed boosts to city centers often marked by decades of neglect. Dayton, Toledo and Akron have built centrally located stadiums for their minor league teams in the past few years. The Cleveland Indians’ move from the lakefront to the heart of the city is perhaps the nation’s best example of how such projects can rejuvenate their surroundings.

Last Friday, Franklin County commissioners announced plans to move the Columbus Clippers baseball team from Cooper Stadium, located along I-70 and built during the Great Depression, to a new stadium planned for the downtown Arena District. The ambitious plans call for a 2008 completion date without using local taxes. More on that last point later.

This is an outstanding idea that is long overdue. If it’s implemented properly and tastefully, Columbus will continue on an admirable trek toward reinvigorating its downtown and recovering from pathetic developments of the past.

Imagine the possibilities – business folks and Victorian Village yuppies walking to weekday evening games from their offices and lofts, OSU students taking the #2 COTA bus after class for a beer at Frog Bear & Wild Boar before heading to the stadium, families coming to downtown on a sunny Sunday afternoon instead of spending the day in suburban homogeny.

OSU-Michigan rivalry games played in the new stadium and marketed to the whole city. An annual spring game between the Yankees and their minor-league affiliate to kick-off the baseball season. Urban kids from nearby neighborhoods riding their bikes to the Arena District in hopes of chasing down a foul ball in the street.

For this utopian version of Columbus to be realized, it is imperative that developers recognize the symbiotic relationship between a city and its arenas and stadiums, a relationship that can be strengthened through proper placement, accessibility and good stadium design. If Columbus’ downtown stadium is surrounded by a sea of asphalt parking lots, freeway ramps and undeveloped land, it will be a disgrace both to urban design and the game of baseball itself.

I beg developers to take the New Urbanist approach to the stadium and surrounding neighborhood. Incorporate mixed-use buildings nearby, with shops, condos and (especially) apartments to breathe life into the area. Design streets and sidewalks with the pedestrian as highest priority in order to create a safe and sustainable atmosphere around the stadium.

One of the charming aspects that Lansing’s and Dayton’s downtown baseball stadiums have in common is the free view of the playing field from adjacent sidewalks. Capturing glimpses through chain-link fences recalls baseball’s rich past, where kids and laborers could catch an inning or two on the way home.

Both Dayton’s and Toledo’s stadiums are accessible by special “gameday” bus routes, providing easier access to games. Even though Gov. Bob Taft is unforgivably slashing public transit funding in Ohio, a downtown stadium will make bus access practical for when a governor who actually cares about our cities and its residents replaces him.

Today there is reason to believe that our city’s center is taking another step in the right direction. Let’s get this done the right way, and as soon as possible. And even though there are promises of not using local taxes for the project, I wouldn’t complain if that changes. Investing in our city’s future doesn’t come for free, but maybe someday we’ll be paid back with free views from the sidewalk.

Dan Magestro is a postdoctoral research associate in the OSU physics department. He can be reached at [email protected].