Editor,
Raymond Rivera’s April 9 column, “Downtown stadium is needed,” was a wonderfully insightful column on the possibilities of a downtown stadium. While not everyone likes baseball, myself included, most people in this city can appreciate what a relatively inexpensive venue such as the proposed baseball stadium could offer Albuquerque as a city. Instead of lamenting the loss of yet another entertainment option, Rivera is envisioning the kind of community experience that this stadium might afford.
Even those who never attend a game — and that would be more than 500,000 people per year — would see the benefits. Smaller and poorer cities have invested more in these stadiums than the proposed one. Albuquerque would get an immediate face-lift and a place to connect with our past. Families would have another place to go during the long summer evenings. Kids would have another field to play on, helping them learn how to be part of a group.
Albuquerque can afford this stadium — the money will be spent, regardless of whether the bond passes. While some will always say that the money could be better spent on the homeless, I believe this money should be spent on making this a better home for the Albuquerque community.
His reasoning was superb, as is his vision. I’m not a big fan of baseball, but I’m a big fan of anyone who has the strong reasoning and vision that Raymond Rivera shows.
-Andrew Patrick
Graduate student
