Does anyone in here consider Comerica Park home?

[LeannaM]

I can't speak for Comerica park, but I have nothing against newer parks.

I've been to Busch Stadium many times and I really like it. Some things may be a bit gimmicky, but overall the experience is great. The fans are still there in the new park. We still have the organ and the vendors and all the stuff the old ballpark had. Of course, old Busch was a 1966 multi-purpose round metal thing, not a 1912 landmark. Still, when I went to Wrigley, I didn't really care for it. The park was neat. The ivy, the rooftop seats, the scoreboard, the view, it was all unique. But functionally it wasn't a great ballpark. There was a women's bathroom closer, which I appreciated, but the only mens bathrooms and most of the concessions were on the bottom floor of the stadium and you had to do a lot of walking.

From my brief experience with older and newer parks [[Wrigley, Miller, and Busch), the older parks would probably be more difficult to go to with disabled people or young children [[the new parks generally have more amenities for kids and elevators and stuff).

Tiger Stadium may have been different, but Wrigley just wasn't that comfortable of a place to watch the game. It was a great atmosphere and the fans were very nice. Wrigley itself just wasn't a very good place to watch the game. I was closer to the field at Wrigley, but I had a pole in front of me.

I love old buildings and I am usually against tearing them down. That said, when it comes to an old ballpark, it can be hard to keep the park functional. It just can't compete with new parks. Except for Wrigley and Fenway [[and they may eventually) the old ball parks become antiquated to many of the fans. Modern day families like lots of vendors and stuff for kids and escalators. If a new park can offer that, chances are more families will come. I think at some point building a new stadium becomes the smartest thing an owner could do, even if the new park doesn't have the same nostalgia as the old one. And, as someone above stated, the new generations will create their own memories in the new park. For me, I have more memories in new Busch than the old one. And sometimes [[though not necessarily with Comerica Park, depending on who you) the new park is a major improvement over the old one.

Just my 2 cents about old and new stadiums.

I do think that stadiums are different than other historic buildings. If a historic building was once a factory, it may be possible to turn it into lofts now. Historic buildings may have many potential new uses as commercial or residential. Generally a ballpark has one purpose, and eventually it makes more financial sense to build a new one.