Arlington’s new-for-2024 County Board chairman seemed to douse flames of expectation that the county government would gain a major seat at the table when it comes to the prospect of a sports arena proposed in nearby Alexandria.
“There is a limit” to what role the county government can play, Libby Garvey said at the Jan. 20 County Board meeting, when the matter was brought up by civic activist and perennial political candidate Audrey Clement.
Clement voiced concerns about several facets of the proposal to bring a stadium for the Washington Wizards and Capitals to Potomac Yard, located just on the other side of the Arlington-Alexandria line.
Among them: transportation.
“Major arteries are already congested,” and the adjacent Metro station is “not designed to handle large crowds,” Clement said during the public-comment part of the Jan. 20 meeting.
Garvey didn’t disagree.
“We are concerned about transportation issues – we are following this closely,” she said of the proposal, which while it has the backing of Virginia’s governor, Alexandria’s mayor and the majority owner of the two sports teams (Ted Leonsis) is far, far from a done deal.
When it comes to such developments, geography is destiny. Two decades ago, when a proposed Major League Baseball stadium was proposed for the Pentagon City area of Arlington, it was the county government that held the power to support or oppose the effort.
That plan eventually died, as did a proposal a decade before to build a stadium in Alexandria for what then was the Washington Redskins football team. The team, now known as the Washington Commanders, ended up in suburban Maryland.
