Fenway Park. The name conjures up a host of images and sensations: the hum of the crowd winding its way from Kenmore Square; the smell of sausages, peanuts and popcorn; the lights of the Citgo sign brightening as twilight turns to evening; the perfectly manicured grass, emerald green against the blue sky of a summer day; and, above it all, the fabled Green Monster, the most renowned feature of baseball's most idiosyncratic playing field.

Much has been written and said over the years about Fenway Park's ability to inspire lifelong memories, about the hopes and dreams that have lived and died there. Both Fenway Park's tangible and intangible qualities have made it the nation's romantic ideal of the glory of our national pastime.

An Economic Engine

Fenway Park, however, is more than a romantic icon. It plays a vital role in the life and business of the city of Boston.

According to the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park is the number one tourist attraction in Massachusetts. More than two million fans travel to Fenway each year from around the country, significantly impacting Boston's economy. Many come purely to experience the legendary stadium, and studies show that history and heritage tourists stay longer and spend more than sports and entertainment tourists.

Fenway is easily accessible on foot and by public transportation and is one of only three remaining neighborhood parks dating from the early twentieth century. The park's location is convenient for residents, workers and those seeking entertainment before or after the ball game. Its presence fosters a healthy, vibrant neighborhood economy.

The Red Sox organization also benefits economically from its ownership of Boston's best-known and best-loved piece of real estate. They have something which virtually no other professional sports team has - a tremendous number of customers for whom the facility itself is an attraction. A Boston Globe poll recently indicated that more than half the people attending Red Sox games come to see the historic ball park, not the team.

The Real Thing

The Red Sox are a mythic franchise - a beloved New England institution - and Fenway Park contributes greatly to the team's mystique. Despite its close association with Fenway Park the team has publicly announced its desire to construct a new facility on a par with Camden Yards, Jacobs Field and Coors Field. Yet the intimacy, setting and field configuration of Fenway Park inspired these new facilities. Why build a copy when you have the original?

By renovating their historic home the Red Sox will save as much as $140 million or more in land acquisition costs. There will be no displacement of local businesses and no additional hardships to be borne by neighborhood residents.

The Red Sox' protestations that Fenway is not economically viable should receive careful and critical scrutiny and should be weighed against the cost to Boston of losing a national treasure.

The Fenway Factor

Fenway Park's unique history, physical features and sense of place combine to form the Fenway Factor, which motivates people to attend Red Sox games. The Fenway Factor provides a refurbished Fenway Park with a competitive advantage over a newly constructed facility.

Only a renovated Fenway Park can fully capitalize on the history and passion that have characterized Red Sox baseball for nearly a century. It alone offers the opportunity to market the best of the "old" and the "new." The Fenway Factor means more ticket sales and greater revenues from concessions.

In the long run a newly constructed facility will never appeal to the full spectrum of patrons now drawn to Fenway Park. Ticket sales may flourish initially, but for how long? The allure of the new will fade and the facility's financial integrity will be dependent largely upon the team's success on the field - something all teams have difficulty sustaining.

As many as ten thousand seats and forty additional luxury suites can be incorporated within the existing walls of Fenway Park along with more concession areas, improved restrooms, more comfortable seating and fully modern team amenities.

Renovation will preserve the character-defining qualities of Fenway Park - its peculiar field configuration, unique play-making characteristics, low angle sight lines and its overall feel of intimacy.

Conclusion

Familiar, accessible, intimate and historic, the ball park enshrines the qualities that make it "the best place in the world to watch baseball." Capitalizing on these attributes makes good business sense and is socially responsible.