Critics of Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s quest to lure the Washington Redskins to Oxon Cove in Prince George’s County cheered his abrupt decision this week to abandon his efforts. They said the state failed to establish an economic justification for the project, and there were vigorous complaints about the team’s billionaire owner, Daniel M. Snyder.
They also voiced disgruntlement that Hogan (R) wasn’t more forthcoming about his negotiations with the federal government on a possible land swap.
While there was no public indication prior to Tuesday night that Hogan was preparing to pull the plug on his efforts, the governor’s decision was not a complete surprise.
His plan, first disclosed in December, involved winning control of Oxon Cove, a 500-acre site of environmentally sensitive parkland near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, from the federal government.
In exchange, the state would give the U.S. Department of the Interior 2,480 acres in Western Maryland that sit adjacent to some Civil War battlefields.
The Prince George’s parcel would then be offered to the Redskins at little or no cost. Snyder could then use the site to build a replacement for FedEx Field in Landover, a lackluster stadium that opened in 1996 that Snyder — and most of his dispirited fan base — would happily abandon.
The obvious, if unstated, lack of enthusiasm from top elected officials in Prince George’s County for this scheme left Hogan with two real options — take full control of negotiations with Snyder himself (meaning not just the land, but also the stadium and needed transportation improvements as well), or let the project die without a patron, the course he ultimately chose.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bruce DePuyt over at Maryland Matters