Here’s the latest development plan for Capital City Stadium
A New York developer is planning a residential and retail development project for the abandoned Capital City Stadium site, according to documents filed with the city’s planning commission.
Weddle Real Estate Investments is proposing 322 units in a mix of one- two- and three-bedroom apartments and townhouses, the documents show.
The development, dubbed “the Ballpark,” would also include 20,000 square feet of retail space, a pool, common areas and other amenities on the 17.5-acre site. The commission will review the site plan Aug. 5.
Although the apartments and townhouses will likely appeal to students attending the nearby University of South Carolina, developer Andy Weddle has told city council members and neighbors that they would be “market rate” housing rather than student housing.
Market rate means the units are leased as a whole, while student housing is rented by the bedroom.
Weddle could not be reached for comment.
City Council member Howard Duvall said he hasn’t seen the most recent incarnation of the redevelopment project. But he said council members were briefed several months ago on the basics of the project.
Also, Bob Guild, president of the Granby Mill Village Neighborhood Association, said he has discussed the project with Weddle about the project and is to review documents with association members Thursday.
“I don’t have a take on any of it at this point,” he said. “We just want to make sure it’s consistent with the development guidelines they’ve committed to.”
The plans also include building a greenway and restoring Rocky Branch creek, which runs under the stadium and frequently floods. Both issues are important to residents of the mill village neighborhoods near the stadium, Guild said.
Although Weddle holds the contract to purchase the property at 310 Assembly St., Atlanta developer Bright-Meyers is listed as the applicant. Bright-Meyers recently transferred the contract rights to purchase the land from the city to Weddle with a new sales price of $1.625 million..
Capital City Stadium has stood unused for the past five years while Bright-Meyers considered building a commercial project there, at different times rumored to include a Walmart or a Kroger grocery.
The stadium was built in 1927 by Pittsburgh Pirates owner and baseball Hall of Famer Barney Dreyfuss. Teams that played there through the decades included the Columbia Comers, Columbia Reds, Capital City Bombers and, finally, the Columbia Blowfish.
The stadium was the home of the New York Mets’ farm club — the Columbia Mets, later renamed the Capital City Bombers — from 1983 to 2004, when the Bombers moved to Greenville and became the Greenville Drive.
The Blowfish, a collegiate summer league team, played at the stadium from 2006 until 2014. The following year, the team moved to Lexington County, where it still plays.
In 2016, Columbia christened a ballpark at BullStreet, the former S.C. State Hospital campus, for its present minor league team, the Columbia Fireflies, also a Mets affiliate.
In its prime, the stadium hosted the early careers of baseball greats Frank Robinson and Ted Kluszewski, who played for the Columbia Reds. Over the years, visiting players and future stars included Chipper Jones and Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves and Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees.
A young Hank Aaron stepped into Capital City Stadium as a second baseman for the Jacksonville Braves. Aaron returned to Columbia for a pair of Braves’ exhibition games in the 1960s.
The city of Columbia is requiring Weddle to pony up $60,000 so Historic Columbia can make a documentary about the ballpark and plan a “last tour” event.
The documentary and tour will be a fitting sendoff for the venerable old park, Duvall said.
This story was originally published July 24, 2019 at 4:06 PM.