Wiedmer: Why can't Chattanooga build a better school system and a better ballpark?

Rendering Courtesy of the City of Chattanooga/ Proposed Lookouts stadium
Rendering Courtesy of the City of Chattanooga/ Proposed Lookouts stadium

With deepest apologies to the 16th century rapper Billy Shake, it seems as if our fair city has been overcome by the following choice: "To build, or not to build (a new minor league baseball stadium), that is the question."

To further the tug-of-war: "Is it nobler to build a monument to sports, hoping to unite our diverse population on summer nights into a melting pot (no heat and humidity jokes intended) of different skin colors and economic means; or would it be more responsible to take arms against a sea of education troubles and by opposing them with both tax dollars and community action, end them?"

Because this seems to be the crux of the argument. New stadium for the Chattanooga Lookouts on one side, or new money to throw at an old and stubborn Scenic City problem on the other: public education.

It isn't that simple, of course. It might not even be all that accurate. There's nothing out there that defines this as an either/or situation. Not building the new stadium on the site that has been the decades-long U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry eyesore does not guarantee a bank vault full of money will find its way into our education system for crumbling buildings, improved pay for teachers and the like.

And before we go any further on the overall sorry state of public schooling here, a lot of parents need to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they're doing anywhere close to all they can to help their children get the most out of the education opportunities they do have.

To talk to almost any public school teacher or coach in private is to hear far too many sad and sometimes gut-wrenching stories about children who show up for class each morning having not been fed, bathed, dressed in clean clothes and suffering from lack of sleep.

That's not on the school system. That's on the parents or guardians. Solely on the parents or guardians. And until that changes, it's doubtful much else will change for the better. It may indeed take a village to raise a young person, but it has to start in the home, with the parents or guardians who are supposed to be raising them and keeping them safe from harm.

Is it easy? No way. NO WAY! Especially if it's a single parent holding down two jobs while still barely making ends meet. And everyone can find the example of someone who has overcome monstrous obstacles to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a multimillion-dollar athlete or artist.

Yippee for them. But it's not the norm. Look to the best schools and school systems, and interested, involved, dedicated parents are usually nearby, checking to see that homework is done, that baths or showers have been taken and teeth brushed, that upcoming tests or projects are prepared for.

Until that changes, until the public not only demands better schools but backs those demands with sweat equity doing everything from landscaping to painting to supporting teachers rather than little Bobby or Brandy each time they misbehave or fail to do their homework, all the money in Fort Knox won't dramatically improve public education here.

So if your concern in supporting a new minor league ballpark is that it will take money from education, it won't. According to those campaigning for a new home for the Lookouts, the entire project would actually generate up to $40 million for Hamilton County's public schools over a 30-year period.

That may not be much money in the grand scheme of things, but it's at least something for a school system that needs so much on so many fronts.

Or as Commissioner David Sharpe of Red Bank told the Times Free Press last week: "(It's) critically needed in our community as we struggle with how to not only have the revenue in place to satisfy the needs of a growing, expanding community while also investing in facilities that already exist. We failed at that frankly for the last 40 years or more, and we need to get it right."

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't build a stadium, too.

For starters, if you're into such things, not building a new stadium would do away with minor league baseball here, probably for a good period of time. Major League Baseball has already said AT&T Field is woefully inadequate for its expectations for a minor league facility. Remaining downtown on Hawk Hill, even with a remodel, would almost certainly fail to satisfy MLB.

Yes, we could get along without the Lookouts. We have before. But this is about much more than the Lookouts when you look to beautify the former U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry site. It's about making the first impression one has of the Scenic City when you round Moccasin Bend heading into town on Interstate 24 East a distinctly positive one rather than a hugely negative one.

It's about pulling South Broad, Main Street and the Finley Stadium area together, making the city much more attractive across the board, with new room to further expand that growth.

As for concerns that all this really does is shift entertainment and tourist dollars from the North Shore and Tennessee Aquarium areas to South Broad and Main - in essence moving money rather than multiplying it - Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly begs to differ.

In a Friday email, Kelly's office wrote that he "is confident that construction of the new stadium will catalyze new development in the South Broad area while also stimulating redevelopment opportunities in the central business district. We are excited to see how this will align with the future redevelopment plans for the existing AT&T site. With three people moving into Chattanooga for every one person moving out, it's critical that we continue managing smart growth that sustains all parts of our city."

With three people moving in for every one moving out, may Chattanooga's children be lucky enough to have those new citizens push as hard for better public education as our current elected officials are pushing for a new baseball stadium.

That would be smart growth at its finest.

photo Mark Wiedmer

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @TFPWeeds.

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