Prince George’s County, Maryland, has been the home of both Six Flags and the Washington Commanders for decades, but within a one-week span both entities announced their intention to leave.
The moves are a blow to the county’s economy and reputation, but county leaders are saying the reality might not be so grim.
“Two blows in one week can make people feel hopeless,” council member Wala Blegay said. “But I want people to be clear that there is no hopelessness here. This is opportunity.”
The county said both the Commanders and Six Flags bring in about $12 million in tax revenue every year, which while not insignificant, is also just a sliver of the county’s $5 billion budget. And that’s why some on the council, while not cheering the loss of either organization, aren’t overreacting either.
“We have a lot of opportunity to replace these existing institutions with things that uplift and improve our county overall,” council Chair Ed Burroughs said.
A more independent assessment agrees with the county.
“It’s not a complete loss by any means for the Prince George’s County communities affected as a result of both businesses,” David Kass, clinical professor of finance at the University of Maryland, said.
He described what’s happening as the natural cycle of capitalism, and said there’s strong potential for these moves to pay off for the county.
“It does not signal by any means that other businesses cannot come in and have a very profitable redevelopment,” Kass said. “I think both areas can be revitalized over time. Yes, in the short run, there’ll be an initial setback, yes, but looking out five to 10, years, I think things could be very vibrant in those two areas.”
Prince George’s County’s acting County Executive Tara Jackson said the bigger impact on the Six Flags closure will be on the youth of the county.
“We also looked to Six Flags to support and hire so many of our young people on a yearly basis, and they were great partners in that regard,” Jackson said. “It’s been thousands of young people that they’ve employed and so we’ll have to take a look at that. Thankfully, they’re going to be open this season, so we have a little bit of time to plan for the future.”
Meanwhile, Blegay said there’s another reason to think the future might be brighter than you would expect.
“Literally every hour, someone has been calling trying to see what they can do to develop the land there,” she said about Six Flags. “So there is opportunity here. This is not something that’s going to sit because if it was going to sit, I wouldn’t be getting the phone calls.”
The land remains zoned for a theme park or some sort of entertainment venue, and she was adamant that wouldn’t change. She specifically cited social media rumors that another massive townhome community would be developed, and said that will not be the case.
“I would say amusement park, any type of — even people talk about big sports facilities, all of those could fit there,’” she said. “Honestly, we’re open to being creative.”
She promised there would be community meetings and plenty of time for people to offer up their ideas, but said the county now needs time to put its own thoughts together. But Blegay said there’s no reason to think you’ll see Six Flags become as vacant as Northwest Stadium when there’s not a football game on the schedule. Something new will replace the longtime theme park that’s been there for decades.
“People are reaching out,” Blegay said. “And that’s good news for us, because what that means is that the sale of this is not going to go for scraps.”
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