There was also a $52 million aquarium, and a new light rail line linking Camden to Trenton, the state capital that's about 20 miles north along the Delaware River. The $24 million stadium was part of an economic development effort that included a slew of boondoggles. In 2004, it was honored by Baseball America magazine as the best ballpark in America. Former major-leaguers like Pedro Feliz and Jose Lima played out the twilight of their professional careers in Camden. It offered both staples of minor league baseball: cheap tickets and cheap food. Built along the banks of the Delaware River in the shadow of the majestic Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which connects Camden to Philadelphia, Campbell's Field offered better views of the Philadelphia skyline than the major league ballpark trapped in a sea of parking lots at the city's southern frontier. That 6,400-seat stadium was, by all accounts, a pretty great place to catch a ballgame. "Soon we will see a field of dreams right here in Camden, and my prediction is they will come." "These partners have heard the message from the movie Field of Dreams: 'If you build it, they will come,'" Whitman said. Politicians have yet to learn the lesson.Īt the groundbreaking for the stadium in Camden, then-governor Whitman reached for the most obvious of all baseball clichés. The Atlantic League never turned New Jersey's struggling cities into baseball Meccas, but it continues seeking public largesse elsewhere. Stadiums that cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars apiece sit empty or have been torn down in pursuit of what civic officials see as the next sure thing in economic development-all while the bonds used to build them are still being paid off. Today, all three Atlantic League teams are long gone. But for all the talk of economic growth, second chances, and civic revitalization at the time, the two decades since have provided a stark lesson: baseball stadiums are not the key to rebuilding struggling American cities. Teams in Atlantic City, Newark, and Camden were gifted new stadiums with generous leases, built on dreams about turning those struggling cities into attractive destinations for visitors and families. The state's riskiest bets were placed on three franchises in the fledgling Atlantic League. All of them played in brand new stadiums largely-and in some cases entirely-funded with public money. Some played in leagues directly affiliated with Major League Baseball, while others played in independent leagues outside the MLB farm system. Some were new franchises, while others relocated from out-of-state. From 1994 through 2001, seven new minor league teams took root in the state. Under Whitman's watch, New Jersey embarked on an unprecedented minor league baseball stadium building spree, as the state tried to turn itself into a hotbed for minor league baseball. "I'm very pleased to be here for the groundbreaking of another stadium in what has become a long list of outstanding baseball parks across our state." "This ballpark will be another step in giving this city, which has seen its share of tough times, a second chance," announced the then-governor of New Jersey, while standing in the shadow of the mighty Ben Franklin Bridge along the banks of the Delaware River. Christie Whitman, ball in hand, announced that a new stadium was exactly what Camden needed to turn the corner. It was a perfect day for baseball-warm but not too hot, with a light breeze blowing, and clouds blocking out the June sun-when Gov.
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