Purely a coincidence but the Stadium project and my moving to Leland both occurred around the same time (18 months ago.) It was a glimmer of hope for a guy who had experienced the MLB experience in New York (Binghamton,) Maine (Portland) and in numerous Connecticut cities. It was affordable family fun and community experience with a change of seeing an eventual MLB star on the ground floor.
Flash forward to January 18 , 2024 , the day of reckoning for the Stadium /Jackeys Creek Development. The big announcement was at Leland Town Hall chambers and announced that a joint decision was made with REV Entertainment and the town of Leland not to proceed with the project at this time and the crowd roared in celebration .
With the exception of a few people, the public that approached the microphone spoke of the “stadium.” Most read from a script talking about stadium horror stories across the country some took shots at the town council about backroom deals, lack of transparency and misuse of public funds. To be fair there were some level- headed people that thanked the town for the decision and advocated parks and recreation facilities be built instead.
I guess the last three words AT THIS TIME hit a nerve for quite a few though. One woman actually begged the council to make the NO STADIUM DECISION FINAL RIGHT NOW. Some guy pounded his fists on the podium while glaring at the council , and another guy was literally spitting mad, This was the same guy that said that there was no PRO STADIUM petition, not true (454 signees.) The old adage of strength in numbers is true and on this night there was a tangible mob mentality going on.
As luck had it, my name was called last and I loped up to the podium and gave an off-the-cuff concession speech. I guess the key points were that although a big fan of MLB baseball but knew that a publicly built stadium would never fly and that the town was lacking entertainment options. There were however a “correction” I mentioned to the crowd to the comment that the stadium project wouldn’t provide jobs–I think my quote was ‘stadiums don’t run or build themselves. Note: the independent Baker-Lily report, which the town paid $25,000 for projected 30,000 part time jobs ( construction related ) and almost 300 full time jobs overall.
At that point I gathered my possessions and exited the room. Outside, a reporter asked for an interview and sought my opinion as to what just happened. And I gave her some stuff including a lack of class by some individuals. The one regret I have was saying Leland was boring and needed an identity. The last part I’ll own but what I meant to say, in regard to entertainment, is that Leland is behind the curve for a town of its size. Either way that night there was a snippet on the ABC affiliate of my comments and the following day on the internet.
The stadium is a dead duck – I’ll admit that. In my opinion, the” At This Time” ending is just fluff. Logically, I don’t think $150 million is going to materialize out of thin air.
Maybe what happened on this particular night won’t be considered infamous but it did give me perspective. You’ve probably heard the adage there’s nothing worse than a poor loser , actually I can think of one better there’s nothing worse than a poor winner.
Without Wax
