Orr entertaining plans for old Tiger Stadium - public park?
Quote:
Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, who coaches Little League baseball, is entertaining a proposal that would transform the old Tiger Stadium site into a public park with the original field, batting cages, soccer fields and concessions, his office told us Tuesday.
Preservationists and fans have been trying to save the 101-year-old stadium site since the Tigers abandoned it in 1999, but money shortfalls and politics have derailed those efforts. Now Orr, who has authority to sell city assets, is raising hopes that the site at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull in Corktown may be saved for public use.
Quote:
Past preservation attempts have been thwarted by city officials, who have insisted – wrongly, so far – that the site can garner tens of millions of dollars from a major developer. Plenty of ideas, from a bull-fighting ring to an upscale hotel, have been pitched, but none has been backed by serious money.
Trouble is, the funding is now at stake. Just last week, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., requested that the Office of Management and Budget cancel the grant because the project has been a failure.
“It is clear that the nearly $4 million provided generously by taxpayers has not been used for its primary purpose to rehabilitate the stadium,” Coburn wrote in a June 20 letter to the Office of Management and Budget. “During a time of sequestration and budgetary shortfalls, it is appropriate at this time to fully rescind any unspent funds.”
Coburn cited the city’s failure to take advantage of previous offers to preserve the site. Much of that blame falls on George Jackson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., the city agency that controls the site. Jackson has insisted on landing a major development, which has proved to be a pipe dream in a city with an enormous inventory of vacant property.
http://motorcitymuckraker.com/2013/0...letic-complex/
Disappointing to read that $4M has just been sitting there for four years, untouched. Thanks Jackson. Glad to see Orr is on the case.
Wonder if he's looking at the MLB proposal...
