Reply to Sports at Walls (WaPo article)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Maret paid to significantly upgrade Jellef and turn it into a multi-use field space.  I don’t disagree that DC should have done this on their own…but for whatever reason they didn’t have the vision or interest at the time.

It is confusing why Jellef keeps getting mentioned…the field is 2 miles away in Georgetown…it is not much closer than Banneker and not accessible via metro (probably a couple buses).  Maret is creating a new multi-field site with a regulation-sized baseball field because Jellef can’t be used for varsity games (RF is only like 220 feet out while LF is like 400 because it’s a giant rectangle).
[/quote]

In the original Maret deal, Maret paid for creating the field at Jelleff, and in exchange got ten years of preferential use. That deal was arguably fair for the time. The reason people get heated is that when that deal was close to expiring, Maret pressured the city to "renew" it for another nine years -- without throwing anything additional in. There was nothing in the original agreement that said Maret had a right to an extension, or the city was obligated to extend. This was a post-hoc renegotiation of the original contract. And the city went along with it.

The reason this is such a big deal is that there is such a shortage of athletic field space and the city seems so cavalier about how the allocate it.

And yes, Maret plays varsity games there.

[/quote]

Maret didn't "create" the field.  They paid for renovation work and added lights.  The city should have paid for the renovations but couldn't be bothered.

And Maret's "preference" was basically all the useful hours.

It was a bad deal from the start.  Hardy et al. would have benefitted more from a poorly-maintained field than no field.

And the renewal was simply inexcusable.  Back-room cronyism at it's finest.

Moving back to Walls....[/quote]

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