Brunswick Forest residents speak with officials about proposed baseball stadium

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — Baseball has been the talk of the town for Leland residents over the past few months.

“I would say there were mixed reactions, but the bottom line is they were there to quash rumors and communicate facts, which I think is probably key,” said Joanne Levitan, a Brunswick Forest resident.

This week, officials from Rev Entertainment, Leland and Brunswick County have held meetings with Brunswick Forest resident regarding their concerns and questions about the stadium.

During these meetings, some proposed plans for traffic have been brought up to residents. Some of the ideas to help alleviate traffic are having a road from U.S. Highway 17 to NC Highway 133. Another proposed idea is having a road go from Brunswick Forest Parkway to the nearby Walmart in Leland.

One of the biggest is about the potential for noise and lighting from the stadium. Rev Entertainment and local officials were able to give insight on their plan to help mitigate that.

“They will be focused on the stadium pointing down (stadium lights), as opposed to more light pollution pointed up and the same thing for the sound system. There’s not going to be one giant speaker blasting the whole place, there will be directional sound that will be pointed down towards the stadium,” Levitan explained.

REV Entertainment President Sean Decker says he appreciates the input they’re received so far.

“It’s been great, you know we’ve been fortunate to work on project like this in a few communities and I have to say, the response has been overwhelming in terms of just a number of folks willing to come out. I think this week alone we’re going to meet with close to 1,000 residents,” said Decker.

The residents have certainly responded.

“Realistically, what’s impressive about this community is we’ve had a lot of people that have come that have shown a willingness to talk to us and say, ‘where not sure if we like this idea but we could love it if we did this’ so we’re compiling all this information,” Decker explained.

REV Entertainment was also able to tell us if the time comes, they will take ideas from the residents about the team’s name, colors and logo. They would then pick the best one, and let the local community and fans vote on the final decision.