A petition opposing plans to build a new professional sports arena in Potomac Yard has gathered nearly 1,000 signatures, as residents organize to try to stop construction.
"This petition is voicing opposition on behalf of residents in the Alexandria and NoVA region. We call on our state and local officials to listen to their constituents and stop this initiative from ruining our communities," according to the petition.
The petition notes concerns about crime, traffic, diminished property values, noise pollution and more.
Local and state officials announced plans earlier this month to build a new professional sports arena at Potomac Yard. In addition to the arena, the new neighborhood will include restaurants, public spaces, a performing arts venue, retail, hotels and more. The plan has to go through multiple rounds of approvals at the state and local level, and if everything moves forward the arena wouldn't open until 2028 at the earliest.
Monumental Sports and Entertainment plans to move its global headquarters to the new neighborhood, along with the new arena for the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards, in addition to a 6,000-seat performing arts venue, a Washington Wizards practice facility and space for e-sports.
The arena would have its own parking garage and also be served by the new Potomac Yard Metro station, which would itself need renovations to accommodate stadium crowds.
In the 2022-23 season, the Washington Wizards hosted an average of 17,300 attendees per home game. The Washington Capitals averaged 18,500 attendees per home game that year.
In a meeting with the Del Ray Citizens' Association last week, Mayor Justin Wilson said, “The traffic and transportation is probably the biggest unknown here, and we have a lot of work to do on that with the community,” Wilson said, “to both ensure this is a possibility from a transportation perspective and ensure it doesn’t have a negative impact on the neighborhoods we live in,” Wilson said.
One misconception: The building of the stadium does not mean the destruction or immediate loss of Target and the rest of the shopping center at Potomac Yard. A Small Area Plan from 2010 does call for the redevelopment of the shopping center, but the stadium is not taking the place of Target (it's on a separate plot of land), nor would Target be demolished to make room for the stadium.
Residents can learn more about the arena at monumentalalx.com.
