McClure Renovate Municipal Stadium to fix flood problem

November 30, 2000

McClure Renovate Municipal Stadium to fix flood problem

By DAN KULIN / Staff Writer

Hagerstown City Councilman J. Wallace McClure said Tuesday that the council should consider making renovations to Municipal Stadium now that a larger plan to replace the ballpark has fizzled.

McClure, a consistent opponent of proposals for a new stadium, suggested the council consider correcting the flooding problem at the existing stadium.

"All along I said I would support a renovation ... The city should do something to help (Hagerstown Suns owner) Winston Blenckstone and No. 1 is the flooding issue," McClure said.

The most recent plan to replace Municipal Stadium called for spending as much as $1.7 million to redirect Town Run, a stormwater collection stream that channels water behind the stadium and merges with Marsh Run. Flooding has been a persistent problem at the spot where the runs merge.

Councilman William M. Breichner, a supporter of past plans to build a new stadium, said he agreed with McClure.

The leaders of the most recent plan for a new Hagerstown ballpark are saying their plan has become too expensive in the current political environment.

Richard Phoebus, chairman of a private task force that proposed the stadium plan, said this week, "If we could see that there was a strong political will to do this, well, then I think it could proceed."

The task force had proposed demolishing most of Municipal Stadium and building a new stadium in its place, for an estimated $15 million. But the most recent cost estimates put the project at $18 million.

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