The second half of the Braves’ farewell to Turner Field began this weekend. The team exited the All-Star break with the worst record and the fifth-worst attendance in the majors, which means there’s nowhere to go up but up. At least geographically, that’s where the club is headed — 14.5 miles north to Cobb County and SunTrust Park.
Every new stadium has its snarls, but the Braves' relocation has been utterly fraught. Cobb Commission chairman Tim Lee, the man who wooed and won the Braves, faces a July 26 runoff against an opponent who drew 49 percent of the vote in May's primary. Cobb County has been hit with a petition to set aside its exercise of eminent domain in building a bridge to the new stadium. Sandy Springs leaders went ballistic when it was learned the Braves' traffic plan called for stadium-bound cars to be diverted onto their roads.
That's the furor ongoing in the place where the Braves are headed. Atlanta remains the jilted party. Some fans insist they'll never set foot inside the new place. Others worry that they can't get there. This week Dale Russell of WAGA accompanied Bob Carr, who lives in Candler Park, on a trek to SunTrust. Via two MARTA trains, a Cobb County Transit bus and "a 12-15 walk across seemingly never-ending traffic lanes" along Cobb Parkway, it took 90 minutes.
As we know, sports fans are a hardy lot. It’s not easy fighting the traffic to Sanford Stadium on autumn Saturdays, but 90,000 folks do. The Georgia Bulldogs, however, tend to win. These Braves could lose more than games than any Atlanta Braves team ever. For a franchise upping sticks, the optimum pitch is not, “Forget our record! Come luxuriate in mixed-use splendor!”
As we also know, new parks are a mighty lure. The Padres were coming off a 98-loss season when they moved to Petco Park; attendance increased from two million to three. (Granted, Petco is located downtown San Diego; Qualcomm Stadium is not.) It would be a shock if the Braves, who are on pace to draw 1.8 million this season, don’t see a similar bump next year.
And let’s face it: Getting to Turner Field is no day at the beach. As bad as the confluence of I-75 and I-285 is, the Downtown Connector is worse. The lure of the mixed-use Battery is for Braves fans to come early and spend money — which is something they can’t really do in the area that rings the team’s current home.
But there’s a tangle there, too. Dr. David A. Zelby’s 18th-floor Galleria office overlooks SunTrust Park. (Full disclosure: Dr. Zelby has been my dentist since 1984.) He isn’t so much concerned about traffic to Braves games: “I think they’ll be able to manage it,” he said. “They’re smart.” What concerns him is parking.
A Braves-backed ordinance prevents businesses within a half-mile of the stadium from selling parking, and the Galleria has resisted the Braves' overtures to lease its decks. "Parking right now for my patients is very easy," Zelby said. "You'd come to see me at 3 p.m. if you knew the traffic was flowing, which I think it will. You wouldn't come if you knew there wouldn't be a place to park. That would impact my business."
For their part, the Braves remain confident that things will work out. From general manager John Coppolella: "This is going to be something truly special that has never been done anywhere else. It will be a huge boon to our team in terms of recruiting free agents and creating new revenue streams. The fan experience, from everything I've heard, should be amazing."
From many hours of dental delights, I know Dr. Zelby enjoys having the final word. We’ll grant him that today. “It will be fine,” he said. “It’s a beautiful stadium. I’ve got a bird’s-eye view. It will have a positive impact on Cobb County. It’s just the growing pains that are a concern.”
