Loyola is planning to buy and build on 71 acres of land, 50 acres of currently city owned land and 21acres of Sinai owned land. Loyola's Phase One plans include a 6,000 seat college stadium (To put this in perspective, Towson University's Minnegan stadium was 5,000 seats, and one side of Hopkins stadium has 3,900 permanent seats according to their Sports Information department.) two additional practice fields, and multiple parking lots with spaces for 330 cars. Their "Phase 2" plans call for a 5000-6000 seat arena, (Forum) with one level of underground parking, to be built next to the Northern District police station over an unregulated dump that operated in the 1930's, as well as an additional parking lot next to the arena. Phase 2 construction would bring the total number of parking spaces up to 770. City Council decided that Loyola would have to come back to them with a new proposal to get Phase 2, but it is still a future possibility. The land has not been sold to the college yet. There are some definite concerns regarding the construction of a stadium on a site like this one. They include:
The college has tested the area and claims that they found no hazards, but will not release the findings of the testing until after they buy the land. During the construction of the Northern District station, chemicals like benzene, a known carcinogen that can cause leukemia, were found in the soil. (See the article about the police station in the Sun, 10/2/2000, page 3B) While the Northern District was build near the dump site, Loyola would be building on top of the older dump site, which is a cause of concern.
2.- The newer landfill contains Methane and Benzene
Methane is a byproduct of the breakdown of trash. This gas is unpleasant in odor, and is considered a soil contaminant (see the above Sun article) and is also a greenhouse gas. Loyola will have grade the landfill in order to create level playing fields and parking lots on this very hilly site. The college also plans on running pipes under the playing fields and parking lots to collect water from rains, etc. and funnel this into a detention pond to prevent runoff like grass fertilizer, weed killer, oil and gas from cars from entering the Jones Falls river. This step is necessary to prevent groundwater from seeping into the landfill and leeching into the Jones Falls. This necessary step could release Methane into the atmosphere. Many people are concerned about exposure to the gas during construction, and about the unpleasant smell that may occur during the 1 and 1/2 to 2 years of construction. Others are concerned that property values will be affected by this odor, or about the greenhouse effect that this gas is linked to.
3.- The increase in noise, trash, and traffic in the area.
What are the effects of a 6,000 seat stadium and a 6,000 seat arena in your backyard? Will airhorns and cheers fill the air during big games? Will concerts and special events bring incredibly loud noise and loud drunken students to your block? Will birds and wildlife flee to escape the noise? Will spectators and students dispose of their trash correctly, or will it end up on your street? How will you be affected by visitors possibly parking in your neighborhood to see a big game? These are all things to think about.
4.- The effect on the water quality of the Jones Falls River.
The area is part of a watershed, which is a buffer zone that normally absorbs rainwater and filters it before it goes into the river. If Loyola builds their stadium there, the impervious surfaces, like asphalt and artificial turf will not absorb rainwater well, so the water instead can potentially run unfiltered into the river with any oils, gas, and other toxins to aquatic life found in parking lots and in rain. Water could potentially cause leeching from the landfill if the pipes that are laid under the fields fail and don't divert groundwater from the landfill. Loyola is going to create a detention pond to catch runoff form their fields, to catch the runoff from their parking lots and practice fields (see map). Some Loyola proponents believe the new detention pond will also absorb leaching from the landfill that the practice fields will be built over, but many question this, since Loyola's map states that the detention pond is designed to catch runoff and doesn't claim to stop leaching from the landfill. The Loyola plan also includes running a system of pipes underneath the fields to catch water and guide it to the detention pond so it doesn't filter into the landfill, so perhaps Loyola will be able to force all rainwater to go into the detention pond, but the land outside the landfill won't be piped, so there seems to be no way to prevent water from leaching into the landfill below the pipes. Also, if the pipes become clogged, the detention pond will be ineffective.
5.- The stadium will force wildlife and birds out of their homes.
The Woodberry Forest is home to 40 species of bird, including herons, hawks, kingfishers, orioles, and woodpeckers- birds not commonly found elsewhere in the city. There are also fox and other animals in the forest. The woods is a connector between Cylburn Arboretum and Druid Hill Park, and this is how many animals make their way from one place to another, like a wildlife road. If this "road" is destroyed, animals will be forced to move, if there is anywhere for them to go.
6- Baltimore city needs to do everything it can to encourage residents to stay.
The city leads the nation in asthma, and is losing about 1,000 people a month, according to census statistics. The open space in Woodberry is its only ammenity. The neighborhoods in Woodberry are working hard to improve their area, and want to keep their area as it is, but if this stadium gets built, many people may leave. This project will not create many, if any permanent new jobs, and will not contribute to the tax base, since Loyola is a non-profit.
7- This stadium will share its only entrance and exit with Northern District Police Station.
Residents are concerned that police officers will have difficulty responding to emergencies if a game or event with high attendance is entering or leaving the stadium. Even a five minute delay for officers could mean life or death for some one in need.
