Ilitch Parking empire expansion

**401don** · April-03-19, 06:29 AM

Well Ray, you certainly scratched a sore wound. Like many forumers here, I tried to justify or make excuses for the Ilitches for several years, usually due to a poor economy, etc. But it's the outright lies in recent years that is so infuriating. They've switched from vague promises to public press conferences, announcing grand developments that clearly there was no intention of following through upon. If they legitimately must cancel a proposed hotel, apartment, retail, retaurant, etc they owe it to the public to explain why, although the numbers of these cancellations in recent years has become so laughable that nothing they say can be taken seriously anymore.

**gnome** · April-03-19, 03:08 PM

One good act should not give anyone a free pass to egregious violations of the public trust.

**iheartthed** · April-03-19, 03:29 PM

I preferred the baseball stadium where it was at before.

**Gistok** · April-03-19, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I preferred the baseball stadium where it was at before.

The best thing that ever happened to Corktown was the Tigers leaving. The neighborhood was horrible with all the empty residential dirt lots that were used on game days. It became more profitable to tear down houses and use the lots for Tigers days than to keep the neighborhood intact. Now the neighborhood has been infilled and is booming.

**LongGone06** · April-03-19, 04:11 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I preferred the baseball stadium where it was at before.

I agree. If Tiger Stadium truly was beyond the point of refurbishing, which it probably was, I would have liked to have seen something like the Yankees did with the new Yankee Stadium--a new facility with the basic design elements of Tiger Stadium in the same neighborhood. Aside from a gigantic outfield, Comerica Park is not particularly unique.

You have to remember, though, this was only a few years after the opening of Camden Yards, which was designed by the same architect, HOK Sport, and set the standard for designs of that era.

**Uncledave54** · April-03-19, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by LongGone06

You have to remember, though, this was only a few years after the opening of Camden Yards, which was designed by the same architect, HOK Sport, and set the standard for designs of that era.

However, Camden Yards was designed to look like an old time ball park. Copa is a simple design, imo.

**djtomt** · April-04-19, 12:28 AM

First off, Comerica Park is way better than Tiger Stadium...period. If you are debating this, you don't go to baseball games.

Second -https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2019/04/03/temple-detroit-development-cost-72-million-open-june-2020/3355211002/

This development is going to be ready in 1 year. The Illitches can't even make a parking lot that fast. District Detroit my ass...

**EastsideAl** · April-05-19, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by djtomt

First off, Comerica Park is way better than Tiger Stadium...period. If you are debating this, you don't go to baseball games.

I know this is a lot of water way past a very old bridge, but I couldn't disagree more with this statement. I've been to a lot of MLB baseball games, not only in Detroit but around the country. Atmosphere and history aside [[although that does count for a lot), I have never been in a ballpark that was better for actually watching the game of baseball than Tiger Stadium. Every infield seat, upper and lower deck, in front of the posts was closer to the game and had a better view than practically any seat in Comerica Park. Sitting in the upper deck at Comerica you may as well be a block away from the game. It is an entirely different experience of baseball than sitting in the upper deck at Tiger Stadium.

Now Comerica isn't a bad ballpark, and certainly has much greater creature comforts in terms of concessions, rest rooms, whirligigs, etc. [[although not in terms of comfort and shade from the summer sun). But Tiger Stadium it ain't, and another ballpark with that level of intimacy with the game will never be built again.

**EGrant** · April-04-19, 07:05 AM

Comerica Park is a middle-of-the-road MLB stadium. It isn't bad, but it isn't great either. While Tiger Stadium had its obvious flaws, I dearly miss the charm and intimacy you felt while watching the game. Best upper deck seats in baseball; you were literally on top of the outfielders. We traded that charm for 1,000 giant video screens so we can watch Dunkin Donuts menu items race around a CGI downtown between innings. CoPa is fine, for a "retro" park that was all the rage in the early 2000s. But Tiger Stadium was a unique place to watch a game, and I wish we could have done something more to save it.

**Gistok** · April-04-19, 10:30 AM

A nice little video [[2 weeks old) showing what is going on right now in "District Detroit"....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTxMBmlw4kQ

**Bham1982** · April-05-19, 01:12 PM

It's amazing to me that people believe that theaters would never be renovated or stadia would never be built if it weren't for the Illitches. Bizarre.

Comerica is an average park, at best. Nothing highly objectionable, but nothing particularly iconic. I think anyone who has visited other parks would generally agree with this.

**CMU Steve** · April-05-19, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

It's amazing to me that people believe that theaters would never be renovated or stadia would never be built if it weren't for the Illitches. Bizarre.

Comerica is an average park, at best. Nothing highly objectionable, but nothing particularly iconic. I think anyone who has visited other parks would generally agree with this.

Comerica Park is the best stadium in baseball. It has a Ferris wheel and everything.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/m...rs/3347382002/

**EGrant** · April-05-19, 05:55 PM

Obstructed view seats were not ideal for sure, but the troughs could surely have been amended with a serious modernization of Tiger Stadium. I think the owners kind of let that place go to say "see, it's falling apart!"

I look at what the Cubs have done with Wrigley over the past 5 years and can't help but wonder what a "modern" Tiger Stadium would look like.

**Gistok** · April-05-19, 06:20 PM

For all the merits of old Tiger Stadium... the best thing that happened to Corktown was them leaving the area for another stadium. Corktown was a DUMP.... every 4th house on each street was missing because they were being torn down and replaced by weed choked lots for landowners to make money parking 10-12 cars on their lots, 81 days a year. Corktown would never have turned into the polished gem of a neighborhood with the Tigers still there.