The proposed Potomac Yard arena, a collaboration between various government leaders and Monumental Sports & Entertainment, has gotten more than a little community pushback.
Now, Monumental Sports is counterattacking with a new website, called Monumental Opportunity, which claims to “provide project facts and information” and “correct misconceptions.”
In his second annual State of the Commonwealth address, Gov. Glenn Youngkin praised Pork Barrel BBQ (2312 Mount Vernon Avenue) in Del Ray at the end of a section arguing in favor of the new Potomac Yard arena.
Youngkin, who has faced some unwelcome receptions in Alexandria in the past, had previously visited Pork Barrel BBQ.
Among all the hubbub about the Potomac Yard arena, there’s been one looming question: how would people travel to and from the new facility?
Transportation has been the key item of concern for both public critics of the project and many civic leaders. While Mayor Justin Wilson said the development will minimize parking to reduce the amount of people taking cars to the site, Metro General Manager Randy Clarke said the newly built Metro cannot handle the levels of arena traffic proposed in this development.
I have bad news for anyone else tired of reading about the Potomac Yard arena: the city announced a three-month schedule of public engagement for the project.
The schedule includes community engagement events, listening sessions, project briefings, site tours and more.
A group of Alexandrians and activists from the neighboring suburb — Washington D.C. — rallied outside of the Potomac Yard Metro station this afternoon, protesting the proposal to bring the Washington Capitals and Wizards to a new arena on the site.
The Coalition to Stop the Arena at Potomac Yard held the rally with around 20 protestors and half as many local reporters.
(Updated 2:30 p.m.) A group called the Coalition to Stop the Arena at Potomac Yard is holding a rally tomorrow near the site of the proposed arena.
For those just now waking up from a month-long coma: Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis announced, along with city leaders and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, that the teams would be moving to a new arena in Potomac Yard — pending a series of approvals from various levels of government.
