Anyone catch channel 4 News Last night about Tiger Stadium?

[CLAUDE G]

Check out the story on channel 4...
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/23690547/detail.html

I missed the cleanup, but I was down there around 11pm when Channel 4 was reporting live.

Its pretty cool that a ground of people can get together and help clean up the stadium site.

[Detroitej72]

Its cool that these folks are planning on maintaining it all summer, but again, what was the reason why it had to be torn down so quickly?

[ghettopalmetto]

Its cool that these folks are planning on maintaining it all summer, but again, what was the reason why it had to be torn down so quickly?

Gotta make room for all the NEW DEVELOPMENT, silly!

[One Shot]

I caught that and thought that was cool. I'm guessing the news crew had the cops come by to spice up the story and show everyone that they don't mind they are "tresspassing". I mean what are the chances they would show up while they were there. At any rate I think its good they are taking care of the site for now. Is the flag pole still there?

[DetroitPlanner]

Is the flag pole still there?

Yes and it flies old glory.

[Novine]

Is George Jackson still around? Maybe he can come down and hold a presser on how much new development we can expect.

[Retroit]

It's good to see that something positive came out of tearing down the stadium. At least now the people have access to a ballfield that they previously didn't. Life goes on.

[iheartthed]

Absolutely absurd. They rush funnel contract money to their demolition cronies... I mean, they rush to demolish the building because it was supposedly an eyesore that they couldn't maintain until a viable replacement was found... Only to leave another eyesore in its place that the community has the burden of maintaining.

Was Tiger Stadium demolished using stimulus funds?

[Detroitnerd]

Hear, hear, iheart.

[agirlintheD]

Yes and it flies old glory.

As it should.....

[detroitsgwenivere]

Trespassing? Yeah right. People have been trapesing around in that field since before the baseball season started. And this whole lovefest about the residents getting together to clean up the site is obscuring the reality. That the people who are in charge of keeping that field together are not, and their bet just paid off by waiting for someone else to do it, saving their own time and money. This is the reason residents living in proximity to the field hadn't already held a clean up of their own.

[gumby]

I'm sorry, i loved Tiger Stadium as much as the next guy but everytime I see someone question why they had to tear it down so quickly, I throw up in my mouth a little bit. It sat there for 10 years with no plans whatsoever so to say they tore it down quickly is simply not true.

[HarperNottingham]

But Old Glory appears to have been cut down.

No flag flieth over Michigan and Trumbull.

For more info:

http://www.quicktopic.com/7/H/8ZhiqSrATkUPE

[CLAUDE G]

The Flagpole was vandalized a few weeks ago, as someone cut the steel cable that attatches the flag to the pole.

Im working on a plan to get it back up and flying again. If anyone is intrested send me a PM

[jackie5275]

It appears that this report was from Wednesday night. I hadn't seen it before, but I happened to drive past it last night. The grass must have been a foot high before anyone came in, because from what I could see yesterday, it didn't look like it had been "cleaned up".

[Fnemecek]

Was Tiger Stadium demolished using stimulus funds?

No, one can't use federal funds to demolish something that's on the National Register of Historic Places [[e.g., Tiger Stadium) without going through a rather lengthy review/approval process.

This demolition was financed with funds that the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy raised privately. The OTSC was required by the City to place into an escrow account for a demolition, if the City ever felt that demolition had to happen.

[Fnemecek]

I'm sorry, i loved Tiger Stadium as much as the next guy but everytime I see someone question why they had to tear it down so quickly, I throw up in my mouth a little bit. It sat there for 10 years with no plans whatsoever so to say they tore it down quickly is simply not true.

Actually, it sat there for approximately 6 years without much of a plan. At the time that demolition began, a plan was approved and the funds were raised for its reuse.

[DetroitSTAR]

Actually, it sat there for approximately 6 years without much of a plan. At the time that demolition began, a plan was approved and the funds were raised for its reuse.

This statement is not entirely true.

[sturge]

Its cool that these folks are planning on maintaining it all summer, but again, what was the reason why it had to be torn down so quickly?

What rush? The stadium laid empty for years before it was demolished.

[Fnemecek]

This statement is not entirely true.

Okay - you got me. There were some plans tossed around during the 6 years after it closed, but before the OTSC was formed. They just weren't all that viable, in my opinion.

Happy?

[Whitehouse]

I quote myself from this thread.

The structure was not a suitable re-use but at least the field can be maintained, including the diamond what would it cost to cut the grass once in a while? It's not that there are any building plans in the near future, are there? As a non-Detroiter I never knew him or what he meant to you, but is it too l.ate to create an Ernie Harwell memorial park there?

What you should do is make your own sign for that park with that text and create a buz.
My father was quite pleased that we named our playing ground after him. He was an instrumental force in the creation of that park, so as sort of a cheeky joke we named that ground after him. He's still around if you wonder.

Did I struck a nerve somewhere???
And why couldn't there be a park there? As I said there are no immideate plans to build there. Yankee Stadium came down as well. But the site of that stadium remains unbuild. There will be a park with diamonds on the site of the old stadium.


At least Detroit has something New York hasn't: It still has the original diamond!

I guess this is a scene repeated many times lately, hahaahaOMG WTF BBQ
And they're using a traffic cone as second base!

Off topic: I also found this on youtube, A Eminem/Jay Z double header on Sept 2nd. at Comerica Park and Yankee Stadium. which makes an interesting connection between these two stadiums.

[jerrytimes]

Its cool that these folks are planning on maintaining it all summer, but again, what was the reason why it had to be torn down so quickly?

You mean why did it take so long to tear it down?

[Fnemecek]

You mean why did it take so long to tear it down?

Or an even better way of phrasing that question: why did they wait until there was a fully funded plan for its reuse that was widely approved by the neighboring community before demolishing it?

The DEGC's thinking on this appears to have been:

• No Plan for Reuse + No Money for Reuse = Let It Rot.
• Plan + Money for Reuse = Demolish It Immediately

That makes a lot of sense.

[jerrytimes]

Or an even better way of phrasing that question: why did they wait until there was a fully funded plan for its reuse that was widely approved by the neighboring community before demolishing it?

The DEGC's thinking on this appears to have been:

• No Plan for Reuse + No Money for Reuse = Let It Rot.
• Plan + Money for Reuse = Demolish It Immediately

That makes a lot of sense.

There was a plan, there was not a fully funded plan. People in this area need to keep their memories intact and realize that the building needed to come down. It's one of the few things that Detroit has done right when it comes to demolishing an old empty building. A museum wouldn't have worked in that building without millions of dollars, which weren't available.

[Russix]

There was a plan, there was not a fully funded plan. People in this area need to keep their memories intact and realize that the building needed to come down. It's one of the few things that Detroit has done right when it comes to demolishing an old empty building. A museum wouldn't have worked in that building without millions of dollars, which weren't available.

Yes what we have now is much better!!!