It was a radical idea, using a prof...

It was a radical idea, using a professional sports stadium to point downtown redevelopment in an era when chiefly teams were looking toward the suburb Baltimore, however, had a beautiful waterfront already well onward the rehab path.

The question at issue was getting people to change decades worth of habit.

The city knew it extremityed a hook, something to draw commonalty downtown in the first place.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards provided the answer.

The first of the novel old ballparks, Camden Yards was also among the first of the major sports facilities with a downtown economic redevelopment mission. Coors Field in Denver and Jacobs Field in Cleveland followed of high temperature on its heels.

Besides serving as catalysts for downtown revitalization, the three had something other in common -- all were built with tax-exempt financing.

If modern York Senator Daniel Moynihan has his way, they will be among the last of their kind.