Asheville’s McCormick Field officially opened 100 years ago this week. To commemorate the anniversary, Xpress takes a look back at 10 of the more memorable moments in the history of the venerable ballpark: Everything from Franklin Roosevelt and NASCAR races to Kevin Costner, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Nelly.
“I would give more weight to people who have invested sweat, money and time into enterprises that, should they fail, would mean disaster to them, their families and their employees.”
Asheville City Council at its Oct. 24 meeting unanimously approved a zoning change required to upgrade McCormick Field. The modifications to the site’s zoning requirements at 30 Buchanan Place include allowances for the project to exceed height restrictions and bypass parking space requirements.
It took two tries for the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority to approve spending nearly $23 million over 20 years for Asheville’s McCormick Field Centennial Restoration & Capital Improvements Project at its July 26 meeting. The motion to fund the project failed 6-2 on the first vote and passed 7-1 after the board voted again 25 minutes later.
Grazing goats are an increasingly popular means of eliminating invasive plants.
Larry Hawkins says there is no place in baseball like the Asheville Tourists’ McCormick Field.
Mother, after establishing its first bread and wine retail shop in February 2022, has just opened its second location: a community market and café concept on the South Slope at 244 Short Coxe Ave.
Representatives presented a petition signed by 2,000 workers and supporters asking the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority to consider using the Legacy Investment From Tourism fund to increase subsidized housing for tourism industry workers.
ESPN’S Ryan McGee spoke with Xpress about his new book about interning with the Asheville Tourists in 1994.
“In my view, the overly tolerant approach to vagrancy and lack of concern relative to soaring bond issues, financed by property taxes, in Asheville can be traced to poor leadership.”
The Asheville Tourists are rounding third on a funding deal to stay in town after the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners agreed March 21 to pitch in up to $5 million over 20 years for upgrades to city-owned McCormick Field.
Now that the city of Asheville has agreed to play ball, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will consider joining the financial team for improvements to the home of the Asheville Tourists. The board meets Tuesday, March 21, to consider pitching in $250,000 annually over a 20-year period — a total commitment of $5 million […]
Attendees at baseball games may pick up part of the tab for the McCormick Field improvements through a new 50-cent “facility fee” to be added to each ticket.
“And they ‘want,’ they ‘like’ the Tourists. So do we, but City Council and the city manager are making a huge mistake paying this unreasonable price to keep them.”
McCormick Field has been home to a minor league baseball team for each of the past 64 years. The current Tourists franchise brings in roughly $9.8 million in local spending annually for Buncombe County.
Financing begins to come together to shore up McCormick Field in order to meet MLB standards.
Tom Tesser was one of several commenters from the Asheville Coalition for Public Safety, a recently formed advocacy group that looks to build support for the APD. Five of the nine speakers on budget matters sought larger salaries for police officers and shared their personal experiences of downtown crime and safety issues.
“I much regret the current trend for municipalities to pay for fancy stadiums on behalf of professional sports teams.”
This new funding, to be voted on by City Council during the regular meeting of Tuesday, Feb. 14, would come on top of more than $1.4 million the city has already budgeted for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure along the I-26 corridor.
“For that much money, they should just build a new stadium in a part of town with better parking where they want more people to go.”
“The Tourism Development Authority is the party that needs to pony up the money!”
