"Demolition" Jackson blames "nostalgia" and Senator Levin for his failure to bring new development to Tiger Stadium site after the old stadium was demolished.
http://www.freep.com/article/2013071...Parade-Company
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"Demolition" Jackson blames "nostalgia" and Senator Levin for his failure to bring new development to Tiger Stadium site after the old stadium was demolished.
http://www.freep.com/article/2013071...Parade-Company
Nice way for Jackson to burn his bridges with Carl Levin. It's not as though Levin is ignorant about Detroit's problems and such, what him having been the City Council President for many years.
But one thing in all of this kind of surprises me... DOES the Parade company actually need a NEW warehouse? Aren't there enough empty former factory or warehouse buildings that could be converted??
Perhaps there's a bit of irony to what the acronym DEGC stands for, given Jackson's dinosaur-like resistance to creating sustainable, healthy development programs of existing resources.Quote:
Originally Posted by Novine
At least I won't feel any nostalgia when Jackson is gone.
George Jackson doesn't get it. People want the field preserved. Mr. Jackson needs to find a way to incorporate the field with a development that preserves the field. There is plenty of room to build a substantial development around the field. If, however, the development needs a sea of parking, then yes, the field is in the way. I'm not understanding why the Parade Company wants the site to build a warehouse unless they want to be closer to downtown to shorten the trip that the floats have to travel. However, that involves just one day out of the year. Makes no sense to use the Tiger Stadium land for that purpose. One thing is clear to me, George Jackson needs to be replaced.
The MLB plan was the best plan out there, but ol' Jackson says MLB doesn't have the funding.......ughh, what!?
I heard Demolition Jackson saying that the additional land was needed for parking. Parking! There's never enough parking in Detroit! Maybe he's looking to get another parking lot for Ilitch to run.
What about parking on Trumbull? What about parking on Cochrane? What about parallel parking along the western and northern edges of the field? Depending on the type of development, there's enough room along the northern edge to build a parking structure. What about all the vacant land to the west of Cochrane? There's plenty of space for parking. Why is George Jackson so hell bent on destroying the field?
If he really needs land for retail and parking, why not redevelop Roosevelt Park into what he wants? That land is closer to Slows and most of the current commercial activity going on in Corktown. It makes more sense to put retail there than at Michigan and Trumbull. Think of the deal as a land swap. The Tiger Stadium site becomes the park for the community and the park becomes the commercial development. It's clear to me that George Jackson is a closed-minded individual because I know he didn't think about what I just suggested, nor would he ever.
Drove passed the site this past Friday and saw people playing baseball. They actually parked on Michigan and also parked on Cochrane. The evening sun shone brightly on the field and players. It was a picturesque seen. Years ago on this forum I wrote that I thought the Tiger Stadium site should become the playfield for Corktown. Playfields include sports related activities: baseball, basketball, tennis, horseshoes, and volleyball. If large enough it usually has swings, and a playscape for younger kids. Where in Corktown do you have a playfield? Exactly.
So why not turn the old Tiger Stadium site into Corktown's playfield? I can envision basketball courts and tennis courts along the northern edge of the site. The playscape, swings, and horseshoe area could go along Michigan and Cochrane. Now to please fussy George Jackson, a multi-story boomerang-shaped building could be built along portions of Michigan and Trumbull. Retail on the ground floor and offices above. Workers can park in the lots or a parking structure on the land just west of the site. Mr. Jackson problem solved.
Columnist Shawn Windsor wrote an article in the Sunday Free Press expressing his feeling about the thread topic. He doesn't think the field should be saved, but in the comments section a woman named Eileen Kernick had the following to say which I think sums up how I and many others feel about this topic. Also, there is a video on the online edition that I think sums up my feelings on this topic as well.
Eileen Kernick writes, "Shawn - as a displaced Detroiter watching this debate from the East Coast, it seems to me that it has little to do with revitalization. Developers of condos, retail, etc., don't NEED that particular piece of property in Detroit - nor even along Michigan Ave. There is plenty to be had. Plenty of prime development space.
But for some reason, the idea that many baseball fans really love that field, I mean, LOVE that field, bothers those who don't get it. And since you [[Shawn) don't get it you feel the need to have it your way to prove a point. [[And btw - if you respond to that by saying that you also love Tiger Stadium, but....then you don't get it. Once you add "but," you don't get it.)
The activity at the Corner from spontaneous volunteers and vacationers making the effort to step on that field with their families is to be commended and built on. Build retail space where the stands used to be that draws even more folks down to spend some time and money - but leave the field alone so they can also fuel their souls. You don't have to understand it.
Here's a more basic point: How much money and effort have the DEGC put into boosting the Corktown area besides demolishing Tiger Stadium and publicly fighting with Senator Levin and the Conservancy? My guess is very little. As always, "Demolition" Jackson is following his "big project" approach to reviving Detroit while ignoring small opportunities that can grow into bigger and better things. Corktown's success is a perfect example of an area that's come back without relying on a "big project". Why am I not surprised that "Demolition" Jackson hasn't learned anything from what's worked in Corktown?
The only nostalgia taking place here is Demolition Jackson's fondness for 1960's-style scorched-earth Slum Clearance.