By Rich Tandler
The talk of a possible move of Redskins Park to either Maryland or the District of Columbia is starting to get the attention of the locality where it currently sits.
Sean Williams, a Loudoun County supervisor, has sent a letter to Redskins owner Dan Snyder emphasizing how important the presence of the team headquarters is to the county and regretting the county board’s rejection of a proposed 2008 marketing agreement.
The proposal would have had the Redskins use “Loudoun County” on press releases and possibly would have led to a Redskins Hall of Fame being built in the county.
Williams, who was not on the board when the marketing proposal was rejected, said this in a open letter to Snyder:
As you know, in 2008 there was a proposal to partner with Loudoun for marketing purposes and to build a Redskins Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, the previous Board narrowly rejected the proposal. As a citizen at that time, I was very concerned about the lost economic development opportunity as well as the unfriendly message that was being sent to your organization and Redskins fans alike. I personally cannot think of a better location for the Redskins Hall of Fame than Loudoun County.
There are no immediate plans to move the Redskins’ training facility and corporate headquarters. Some Maryland officials would like to see the team relocate to Bowie State University. Late last year some members of the D. C. City Council made a trip to Tampa to check out the Bucs facility there. That would be a possible model for a team headquarters the District would build near RFK Stadium.
Although a move is nowhere near imminent, Redskins Park will have to be replaced at some point in the future. It opened in 1992 and is no longer a state-of-the-art facility. It would be surprising if the current facility was not moved or substantially renovated in the next several years.
That gives the local politicians plenty of time to sweeten their proposals. The sparring and competition are just starting.
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