DEIS: Project description; Luxury boxes

LUXURY BOXES

Draft EIS states:

Suites. Approximately 60 suites would be provided, which would have fixed-seating capacities of 12 to 16, plus some additional room.

Premium Seat Lounges. Several lounges would be available to premium seat-holders, as follows:
• The Legends Suite Lounges would provide Legends suite seat-holders lounges with food and beverage service, including the Legends Suite Home Plate Lounge, which would be located behind home plate with an entrance from the Main Concourse, allowing direct access to the Legends suites. Glass frontage would provide natural light and views to the field.
• The Grandstand Sports Club would be an enclosed, air-conditioned suite seating area and lounge located directly behind the centerfield wall. It would consist of approximately 400 tiered seats within the suite that view the field and a lounge with seating and light food service. The club would be accessible from the stadium concourses.
• The Stadium Club would be a full service restaurant and bar located in the left field corner at the Suite Level with dining both within the club and on a terrace, which would provide a view of the field in a conditioned environment.

Response:

It is clear that the proposed stadium project includes a substantial component for wealthy and/or corporate patrons. These are facilities designed to evoke exclusivity – a separation from common people – and provide an insular environment for those well-off enough to pay for it. American society has accepted and embraced this concept as a part of our free-market system. However, the provision of luxury
amenities should not be the driving force behind a new stadium project. It is a symbol of America’s increasing divide between rich and poor, and it projects an image to others around the world that we are a nation separated by class.

Increasing the supply of luxury boxes in stadiums has become a reality in the professional sports world which we all must learn to live with. However, any new stadium project should ideally be constructed for other reasons beyond the provision of more luxury seating.