Some Hamilton County voters will cast their ballots based on where they want to see a ballgame. Broadway Commons and the riverfront sides of the debate have both made it a point to talk about problems with the other side's site.

BROADWAY COMMONS		BASEBALL ON MAIN
The Broadway campaign accentuates the construction challenges that come with building a new ballpark on the riverfront site, also known as the ŒŒWedge'' site because during construction it would be squeezed between the Crown and Cinergy Field. Riverfront proponents acknowledge the site is tight but say it's doable. Broadway backers question whether Cinergy Field could be partially demolished, as would be required during construction of a new riverfront stadium, without eating into the playing field. This is important because the Reds would continue to play at Cinergy during construction of the new ballpark. Riverfront backers say Riverfront Stadium was designed in sections, almost like pieces of pie, that will make it easier to partially demolish. Broadway backers argue a riverfront ballpark would have to sit at the riverfront's edge, eliminating a ribbon of park land that proponents want to stretch along the riverfront. But riverfront proponents say the stadium could be pushed up closer to the new Second Street, which could provide a better connection to downtown.		One of the pro-riverfront campaign's arguments has been that a 45,000-seat Major League ballpark won't fit on the Broadway site unless the county were to purchase and move the Greyhound bus station. HOK Sport, the Kansas City-based architect hired to design the Reds new riverfront ballpark, has done drawings showing a Broadway ballpark would fit, and those drawings consistently remove the bus station. The Broadway campaign acknowledges the need to purchase the bus station. The pro-riverfront group argues an important sewer line runs under the Broadway site, which would have to be studied and redone to accommodate a stadium. Broadway backers view it as an opportunity to redo a sewer line that needs to be dealt with anyway. Riverfront backers argue the baseball diamond painted on the Broadway site misrepresents where the stadium would actually be built. The Broadway campaign says the painted ballfield is a conceptual representation, not a specific siting plan.

CONTEXT: Without specific engineering studies of both sites, it's difficult to know what problems might exist at Broadway or on the riverfront. The architects and construction management company Hamilton County hired to build a new riverfront Reds ballpark are starting that kind of work for the Baseball on Main site. But it hasn't been completed.

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