EDC votes to demo Tiger Stadium

**Det_ard** · June-03-09, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto

I'd say that's a bit of a disingenuous comment. It's not the job of city leaders to ensure that majority opinion [[or lack thereof) gets enforced. It's not the job of city leaders to not give a shit about something just because the majority of the populace doesn't give a shit.

The job of the leaders of Detroit is to pursue the best course of action for the betterment of the City and its people. This decision to demolish does neither.

It's not disingenuous, it's reality-based. There's not to many true leaders amongst the political class. They'll do what they need to do the get re-elected, or to serve their key supporters. Everywhere, not just in Detroit. What's the last courageous stand made by a pol in Detroit? One that was for the betterment of the city but went against popular opinion and their key supporters' wishes?

**ghettopalmetto** · June-03-09, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by Det_ard

It's not disingenuous, it's reality-based. There's not to many true leaders amongst the political class. They'll do what they need to do the get re-elected, or to serve their key supporters. Everywhere, not just in Detroit. What's the last courageous stand made by a pol in Detroit? One that was for the betterment of the city but went against popular opinion and their key supporters' wishes?

DEGC isn't an elected body.

**Cooper** · June-03-09, 02:53 PM

Since the discussion has hinged so far on the competence and experience of the Conservancy's Board of Directors, I thought I'd post its membership:

Steve Benavides, southwest Detroit coach and community leader
Gary Gillette, Editor of The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia and co-chair of the SABR Business of Baseball Committee.
Morris Hood III, former Michigan State House Representative - 11th District
Kelli Kavanaugh, Greater Corktown Development Corporation Vice-President. Former Executive Director of the Corktown Citizen District Council.
Michael Kirk, Preservation Architect in private practice.
Thomas Linn, Chairman Emeritus Miller Canfield
David R. Mitchell, an attorney with Miller-Canfield and Greater Corktown Development Corporation President.
Rick Ruffner, President, Avanti Press
S. Gary Spicer, sports and entertainment attorney.
Steve Tobocman, former Michigan State House of Representatives Majority Floor Leader.
Daniel Varner, Chief Executive Officer of Think Detroit PAL.
Kathleen Wendler, President of the Southwest Detroit Business Association

Maybe they're not experienced developers, but this strikes me as a pretty solid board. I think the brunt of the fault lies with the DEGC, not the Conservancy, which has done a remarkable job so far given the terrible economy and DEGC's evident lack of faith in their efforts.

**ghettopalmetto** · June-03-09, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by Cooper

I think the brunt of the fault lies with the DEGC, not the Conservancy, which has done a remarkable job so far given the terrible economy and DEGC's evident lack of faith in their efforts.

George Jackson and the DEGC would demolish the Roman Colosseum if they thought someone would build a Walmart, Applebees, and Starbucks on the site afterward.

**urbanoutdoors** · June-03-09, 03:15 PM

I just drove by the stadium and there are already two cranes inside the north fence... I do not believe they were there when I drove by two days ago....

**buildingsofdetroit** · June-03-09, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by urbanoutdoors

I just drove by the stadium and there are already two cranes inside the north fence... I do not believe they were there when I drove by two days ago....

http://www.freep.com/article/2009060...+Tiger+Stadium

**urbanoutdoors** · June-03-09, 07:05 PM

To all Preservationist, Community Members, and Sports Fans,

URGENT! Tonight at 11PM I Urge anyone who is interested in seeing whats left of Tiger Stadium Preserved to come down to Michigan and Trumbull and support the preservation efforts. There is a viable redevelopment plan and if the DEGC gets its way the city will lose out on a 22 million dollar preservation project and over 100 years at Michigan and Trumbull. Please distribute widely as we have power in numbers. Let everyone you can know!
Thanks in advance,

Joe Rashid
Corktown Resident
Preservationist
Sports Fan
Community Advocate

Contact me at Josephrashid@gmail.com

**Fnemecek** · June-03-09, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto

George Jackson and the DEGC would demolish the Roman Colosseum if they thought someone would build a Walmart, Applebees, and Starbucks on the site afterward.

The fact of the matter is that if someone was going to build a Walmart, an Applebee's and a Starbucks then I'm not sure if I'd really mind Tiger Stadium coming down so much.

The sad reality is that we won't even get that. All we're going to have is the George Jackson Gardens - another large, vacant lot with overgrown grass and filled with trash.

**kraig** · June-03-09, 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by Cooper

Since the discussion has hinged so far on the competence and experience of the Conservancy's Board of Directors, I thought I'd post its membership:

Steve Benavides, southwest Detroit coach and community leader
Gary Gillette, Editor of The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia and co-chair of the SABR Business of Baseball Committee.
Morris Hood III, former Michigan State House Representative - 11th District
Kelli Kavanaugh, Greater Corktown Development Corporation Vice-President. Former Executive Director of the Corktown Citizen District Council.
Michael Kirk, Preservation Architect in private practice.
Thomas Linn, Chairman Emeritus Miller Canfield
David R. Mitchell, an attorney with Miller-Canfield and Greater Corktown Development Corporation President.
Rick Ruffner, President, Avanti Press
S. Gary Spicer, sports and entertainment attorney.
Steve Tobocman, former Michigan State House of Representatives Majority Floor Leader.
Daniel Varner, Chief Executive Officer of Think Detroit PAL.
Kathleen Wendler, President of the Southwest Detroit Business Association

Maybe they're not experienced developers, but this strikes me as a pretty solid board. I think the brunt of the fault lies with the DEGC, not the Conservancy, which has done a remarkable job so far given the terrible economy and DEGC's evident lack of faith in their efforts.

I want you to look at this list. With Wendler, Tobocman and Kavanaugh, you have three well connected people that is able to connect with at least 8 Council Members on a moments notice. It's also no secret that those three have the entire City Planning Commission in their back pockets. Hell, Kathy Wendler was a member of CPC until issues start arising about her being a member of CPC and CPC recommending how much money her group received from NOF/Block Grant. Her group always received one of the largest amounts.

Trust me, this group benefited very well from how politics are played in this City. A group that wasn't well connected wouldn't have got anywhere near as far as this group did. Their biggest problem was that they didn't take advantage of the time that Ken Cockrel was the Mayor. They should have taken that opportunity to lock down there project. Think about it, they had the support of the Mayor, City Council and Senator Carl Levin, along with a 4 million dollar promissory note from Levin. Ken Cockrel was in the middle of a tight election and could have used the Tiger Stadium project better than he was trying to use Cobo and he's always been a huge supporter of the Southwest/Corktown District and vice versa. Let's face it, golden opportunities were blown all the way around big time. I keep telling you guys it's a matter of experience.

But, I do agree that DEGC is playing it's own angle. But with the chance that it had the OTSC could have boxed the DEGC in and didn't.