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10 Years Later, FedEx Field Is Still Receiving Mixed Reviews
Theresa Dudley, a civic activist who opposed the stadium, said she has been disappointed by its impact on the community. "On some level, it's worse. . . . Landover Mall is closed, and the traffic is worse now," she said.
(By Lucian Perkins -- The Washington Post)
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M.H. Jim Estepp, a former council member and head of the Greater Prince George's Business Roundtable, said the stadium helped lead to the expansion of Metrorail and the construction of the Boulevard at the Capital Centre, a retail plaza that includes a Magic Johnson movie theater. Mixed-used projects are underway near Metro stations in the area, including one that will have a Wegmans grocery store.
"They may have eventually come, but there needed to be an impetus for it," Estepp said. "And it's clear to me that the stadium was part of that."
Bell Chapman's duplex faces the stadium and, like Dawkins, she was against the plan to transform the 300-acre farm into a massive football field.
But these days, she's happy with the addition to the neighborhood.
"You know they did the streets and sidewalks -- they did something for the neighborhood," said Chapman, 84. "Now I'm used to it."
But existing businesses that surround the stadium have had a mixed reaction.
Applebee's restaurant, which is on Route 202, a main thoroughfare near the stadium, is normally crowded with ticketholders before games. Jasper's, which is closer to the stadium and existed before it was built, does not get as much business before games because people have trouble getting in and out of the restaurant's parking lot.
"It hasn't helped or hurt our business," said Fred Rosenthal, president of Jasper's.
Anyone driving along the Beltway near Route 202 in Landover can see the red, purple and green stripes that frame the top of the National Football League's largest stadium. The fixture can be seen from miles away, casting a shadow over the new Boulevard at the Capital Centre and the old Landover Mall.
But what motorists -- and Redskins fans, for that matter -- don't see are the many boarded-up homes, run-down apartments and trash-strewed streets in some neighborhoods .
Some schools still perform poorly on state tests. Nearly 43 percent of sixth-graders at John Carroll Elementary School in Landover, for example, did not meet proficiency standards in reading on the Maryland State Assessment tests this year.
Crime also continues to be a concern. FedEx Field is in the 3rd Police District, a 30-mile territory that borders the District. Crime there has dropped considerably in the past year but is still considered a top priority for the department.
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