Tiger Stadium News

Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Board votes to demolish Tiger Stadium
louis aguilar / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- All of Tiger Stadium should be demolished, the board of the Economic Development Corp. voted this morning.

The EDC, a branch of the quasi-public Detroit Economic Growth Corp., voted today to request Detroit City Council approval to demolish the entire stadium after finding that preserving a portion of the ballpark would not be feasible.

The letter to be sent to the council states that the group has met several times with the nonprofit organization attempting to save the baseball diamond, dugout area and 3,000 seats.

"Unfortunately, the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy has not been able to demonstrate any commitments of funding for construction and operation or a feasible plan to obtain such commitments," the letter states.

The group was given an Aug. 1 extension by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick recently, but the EDC board noted that the council will be on recess during that time, which prompted its vote today.

You can reach Louis Aguilar at (313) 222-2760 or laguilar@detnews.com

Idiots have no respect for history! Fire them all!

I might call that guy and yell at him for writing the article!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Idiots have no respect for history! Fire them all!

Better yet, hang them all.

Here's what I don't understand....

Why don't they reconstruct what they can in the Henry Ford Museum? They have everything else in there! Who really wants to see the chair in which Lincoln was shot anyway?

Okay, so it can't be saved...we must move on BUT keep its memory alive at SOME musem SOMEWHERE.....

I keep telling you guys; First; "Mafia" Mike Illitch wants that stadium gone; He don't want 3,000 seats and the dugouts and field to remain for a museum, fantasy camp, college, high school or minor league games; anything that takes money from him


Second, Like with the Water and the Zoo, It is just another way for the Black Majority Run City of Detroit to stick it to the White Majority in the burbs.


Most of the people that cherish Tiger Stadium are non blacks from the suburbs; Most Blacks in the city are indifferent, especially older Blacks.

To be Fair; The Tigers, especially when Briggs owned them, were one of the most racial organizations in sports, The Tigers were the second to last team to intergrate, and they often treated blacks that attended games in the 50's and 60's and even early 70's as second class citizens.


I know plently of older black men and women, who were treated like crap by Tiger Stadium ushers when they attended games back in the day, ushers would snatch their tickets, accuse them of stealing and using racial slurs.

so why is the team even in Detroit anymore?

They almost weren't ! Remember when Monaghan owned the Tigers? There were plans to build a new stadium in Dearborn or Romulus [ by the airport]


Maybe they should have! Detroit is in shambles; It is run by Crooked Negros and to a smaller extent Mafia Mike, Ford and Penske

They making millions while residents deal with crime, litter, broken street lights, poor schools, bad roads and urban and economic decay



Of Course no one put a gun to the head, making them vote for Kwame and the new stadiums for billionaire owners



You Reap What You Sow

I vote gs for mayor of Detroit!
He will straighten out the city.

actually, I've only been here for 6 years so this is all new to me. My friend from church grew up in Detroit in the late 50s-mid 60s and said it was a great place to grow up but then the blacks pretty much scared the whites into moving out of the downtown area. There was a Tigers Weekly segment that I taped showing footage of the celebration after they won the 1968 World Series with parades downtown. Lots of white people down there; just a few blacks.
All interesting stuff. Gs, you really should write a Tigers history!

Detroit was a World Class City in the 1940's and 1950's It had a population of nearly 2 million versus less than 800,000 today.

As far as race relations goes, It wasn't just the Tigers Organization that harrased Blacks. The Detroit Police Department did also. They had tactical units such as the BIG 4 and STRESS; Save the Streets Enjoy Safe streets that often brutalized black people; especially young men, who often were guilty only of being black.


In addition, Ford, GM and Chrysler started building plants in the suburbs as did shopping mall developers and subdivisions, leading many whites out of the city.

The Whites that stayed soon left after the 1967 riots

Detroit was a great city with ethnic neighborhoods. There were Polish, German, Italian, Jewish, Irish, Greek, Mexican an other neighborhoods. And yes, black areas. Many of my neighbors, in Garden City, were from families that had lived in Detroit for generations!

The people from the burbs went to Detroit to do their shopping. My mom used to go to Hudsons downtown ( see How J.L. Hudson changed the way we shop) for years and it was a VERY SAFE place to go. Once they started building malls in the suburbs, (Wonderland in Livonia was the 1st) and then Westland Northland, Southland Malls brought the Detroit stores to those living outside of Detroit.

The 1st problem for blacks in Detroit came about during World War II where southerners (both black and white) came to what they thought was the promised land. "Blacks who believed they were heading to a promised land found a northern bigotry every bit as pervasive and virulent as what they thought they had left behind in the deep south. And southern whites brought their own traditional prejudices with them as both races migrated northward." To see how this led to the 1st Detroit Race Riots see "The 1943 Detroit race riots."

As the blacks were mistreated by most people and companies, except Ford (see Mr. Ford, blacks and the UAW), they ended up with the riots of 1967. After this we had white flight out of Detroit and the blacks moved into those neighborhoods.

The first attempts to revitalize Detroit -"The 1967 riots left Detroit burned and battered. While many gave up hope, and some tolled the city's death knell, a group of businessmen were coming together to find a way to save it. Detroit Renaissance was bom in 1970 out of a gathering of 26 business, industrial, and civic leaders dedicated to stimulating an economic boom in Detroit." (see "How the Renaissance Center changed the landscape of Detroit")

To read up on all sort of Michigan and Detroit history see "Michigan History" at the Detroit News online.

And the interesting thing is now we have middle class Black Flight from Detroit who do not want to put up with the crap they see coming from the low classes of people in Detroit! At present many groups are trying to rebuild Detroit and bring middle class and wealthy blacks and whites to live and work in Detroit. The soon opening of the Book building, with its million dollar penthouse condos, are selling fast! Interesting, and hopeful, if they can get a non-corrupt mayor and council!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Would-be Tiger Stadium saviors: Cash is pouring in
Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News

The group working to save part of Tiger Stadium says it raised $200,000 in the few hours after The Detroit News broke the story the city was being asked to OK demolition of the entire historic ballpark.

The nonprofit Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy said Tuesday afternoon it had raised $200,000 for its preservation effort as soon as supporters heard the city's Economic Development Corp. voted Tuesday morning to ask the Detroit City Council to approve plans to turn the entire stadium to scrap.

The EDC, a branch of the quasi-public Detroit Economic Growth Corp., said that after meeting with the nonprofit, it found the group's plan for preserving a portion of the ballpark was not feasible.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell said the nonprofit hopes to raise $400,000 during the next few days and prove it has another $2 million secured for the first phase of an attempt to save the old Tiger Stadium baseball diamond, dugout area, 3,000 seats and build a 20,000-square-foot museum to house Harwell's collection of memorabilia.

"It's a sacred place and were going to do everything we can," Harwell said Tuesday afternoon.

The letter the EDC is sending to the City Council states that EDC staff members have met several times with the nonprofit group.

"Unfortunately, the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy has not been able to demonstrate any commitments of funding for construction and operation or a feasible plan to obtain such commitments," the EDC's letter states.

The group was given an Aug. 1 extension by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, but the EDC board noted the council will be on recess during that time, which prompted its vote Tuesday.

Partial demolition of the stadium began last week. The ballpark has been empty and moldering since the Tigers left for Comerica Park after the 1999 season. Since than, at least a dozen ideas to rescue the stadium have struck out.

If the nonprofit fails, all of the stadium will be demolished and much of it sold for scrap; the price of iron, copper and steel are high at the moment.

The city still owns the stadium property and, after demolition, will seek development proposals for the land.

The nonprofit is racing to prove it can raise $12 million to $15 million for its partial preservation effort. The group's most recent plan rests on the ability of U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, to secure about $15 million from the federal 2009 budget. Levin has requested the money, and the request is in the appropriations committee.

You can reach Louis Aguilar at (313) 222-2760 or laguilar@detnews.com

Would be great to see part of the Stadium saved; However, I don't like the idea of 15 million dollars of federal money paying for it

Better to waste $15 million on that than waste it on a war. What's $15,000,000 anyways when we waste billions on other crap.

There is so much corruption in Detroit that the money probably end up in Kwame's Pockets or Ilitch's

True...let's take $30 million just to be safe.

I guess Detroit was the closest biggest city, save for Chicago, that the blacks could migrate to from the South after the Civil War.

laprimamirala wrote:

I guess Detroit was the closest biggest city, save for Chicago, that the blacks could migrate to from the South after the Civil War.

Indianapolis

Chicago still has a lot of white people that live in the city;

And White Politicians!


Detroit is as Black as Uganda

And Kwame is like Idi Amin

Baltimore Colts migrated to Indianapolis in 84


Actually they snuck out of Baltimore like thieves in the night

And the current Balt. Ravens snuck out of Cleveland DURING THE NIGHT! That is why I hate them and their owner!

But all this aside, I still don't understand why they couldn't do a reconstruction of sorts at the Henry Ford.

laprimamirala wrote:

But all this aside, I still don't understand why they couldn't do a reconstruction of sorts at the Henry Ford.

You would think so. They have a time of old fashoned baseball games there, I would think having part of Tiger Stadium would increase attendance to Greenfield Village!

Art Modell Sucks!


Tagilbue and THE NFL SHOULD NEVER HAVE LET THE BROWNS LEAVE!



Even if they helped Cleveland build a new stadium with NFL Money


Baltimore should have recieved an expansion team; And Indy should have never been allowed to keep the Colts Name and colors in the first place

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Detroit approves $27M plans for old Tiger Stadium
Ben Leubsdorf / Associated Press

DETROIT -- The city of Detroit has granted preliminary approval to a nonprofit group's plans to preserve the remaining portion of historic Tiger Stadium.

The city's Economic Development Corp. approved a plan and budget by the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy in a letter to the group dated Friday.

The conservancy wants to develop the old ballpark as a commercial and community space at an estimated cost of $27 million.

The conservancy must show by March 1 that it can provide the funding or the stadium will be completely demolished.

Tiger Stadium was built in 1912, and the last major league game was played there in 1999. Demolition began last year, but a wedge extending from dugout to dugout has been left standing while preservation advocates race to save it.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Detroit approves $27M plans for old Tiger Stadium
Ben Leubsdorf / Associated Press

DETROIT -- The city of Detroit has granted preliminary approval to a nonprofit group's plans to preserve the remaining portion of historic Tiger Stadium.

The city's Economic Development Corp. approved a plan and budget by the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy in a letter to the group dated Friday.

The conservancy wants to develop the old ballpark as a commercial and community space at an estimated cost of $27 million.

The conservancy must show by March 1 that it can provide the funding or the stadium will be completely demolished.

Tiger Stadium was built in 1912, and the last major league game was played there in 1999. Demolition began last year, but a wedge extending from dugout to dugout has been left standing while preservation advocates race to save it.

I see the old stadium still any time anything about Ty Cobb comes on during MLB network programming...