Aside from Joan Vennochi’s June 8 column in the Boston Globe, nobody’s been saying much recently about the Boston Red Sox’ efforts to build a new ballpark.

That’s in the real world. But in the virtual world, Boston’s ballpark woes are front and center from June 11 to June 22 at www.politalk.com. Tim Erickson, the founder of Politalk, has organized a high-end Web discussion on public financing of professional-sports stadiums with representatives from four cities that are in the midst of their own debates over the issue — Boston, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Portland, Oregon.

Unlike most Web sites, which make visitors separate the wheat from the chaff, Politalk is carefully moderated and includes knowledgeable, experienced participants. For the ballpark discussion, Erickson tapped experts such as Jay Weiner, the author of Stadium Games: Fifty Years of Big League Greed and Bush League Boondoggles (University of Minnesota Press, 2000); Neil DeMause, co-author of Field of Schemes (Common Courage Press, 1998); and Smith College economics professor Andrew Zimbalist. Municipal officials — including Boston’s own city councilors Paul Scapicchio and Michael Ross — will also weigh in. Politalk has hosted similar forums on globalization and campaign-finance reform.

So far the debate has lived up to its billing. “On average there is no employment or per capita income boost,” warned Zimbalist in one email. Another email featured a missive from Philip Bess, a principal of Thursday Architects in Chicago. “Think always in terms of NEIGHBORHOOD rather than ‘zone’ or ‘district.’... The ballpark design must be driven more by SITE than by PROGRAM,” he wrote.

“This was a case where the issue is being debated locally, but it’s an issue that cuts across the country,” says Erickson, 36, who juggles the dialogue with changing diapers and other household chores as a stay-at-home dad. “There’s this competition for teams. We thought it would be interesting to get a couple of key communities to talk amongst themselves.”

Issue Date: June 14 - 21, 2001