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Time to bid “adieu” to Tiger Stadium

Posted: June 6, 2009 at 8:44 pm | Tags: Baseball, Business, Car, Clark Park, Corktown, Detroit, Economics, Government, Historical, History, Preservation, Tiger Stadium

I want to preface this with the fact that I am a member of the Detroit Historical society and have been for over a year now. I feel very strongly that historical preservation is a necessary part of our society in order to preserve our history and culture.

With that in mind, there are essentially two kinds of historical preservation:

Practical and Productive Preservation

This is where the idea of preserving a piece of history is put on the table so that the ailing artifact can once again come alive and become something that will make the world a better place. Also, the newly restored building will serve a function that is useful, and has some kind of real potential.

A great example is Michigan Central Station in Southwest Detroit. Often the structure is the first thing people see coming over the bridge from Canada and could be used for a wide array of things.

The newly-restored DoubleTree Fort-Shelby Hotel as well as the Westin Book Cadillac are prime examples of historical preservation that offer a great benefit. Both of these places were shells of past glory just a few years ago and are now gorgeous bright spots in the city.

Preservation for the sake of preservation

This is where people rally around preserving an artifact just because they want it to be preserved. It has some kind of special historical or personal significance that makes people want to save it.

Something like the log cabin Abe Lincoln was born would be a good example.

But a better one is Tiger Stadium.

What was once a beautiful ballpark turned like most things in Detroit: A dilapidated building taking up space. Last time I’ve seen anything of substance happen in Tiger Stadium since the tigers moved to Comerica Park was was people who were apparently parking Cadillacs in there. It seemed like there was always an old Brougham going in or out for whatever reason.

The time for the old ballpark has come and gone. Ground Broke on Comerica Park on October 29, 1997, which means that talks of a new stadium must have been in development for at least a few years before. That gives us, at a minimum, 13 (some would say more than 20) years for people to start efforts to save Tiger Stadium.

And in at least 13 years, there is neither a concise plan of what to do with the site or the funds to save it.

The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy states:

For over a year The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy has been quietly working on a plan to preserve the entire playing field and a significant portion of the beloved old ballpark.

A whole year! Come on guys, there’s no way you didn’t know this was coming.

Granted, the Conservancy does have a plan for the ballpark, but it’s lukewarm at best and despite the fact that the plan is a 6 page document, there isn’t a lot of substance in it. Instead of being filled with facts about how the site will sustain itself, any kind of study supporting what they want to do, or anything else that would impress any government official, it appeals to the “hey, look how cool this stuff is!” mentality.

The following is a direct quote from the plan.

The majority of the playing field, upon which trod Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Willie
Mays, Reggie Jackson, Al Kaline, and other baseball legends played, will be made available for
Little League and high school baseball and community events.

Anybody familiar with Tiger Stadium knows of the historical significance. Rattling off names won’t help. A study about how parks help urban development or something along those lines might have been good, but nothing of the sort.

Plus there are talks of maybe a museum, maybe restaurants, maybe this maybe that. No concrete plan other than the feel-good rantings.

On the notion of baseball parks for kids,  who can’t appreciate the awesomeness that Clark Park in Mexicantown has become! A rundown ballpark for young adults as well as lots of trees and open spaces…bonus points if you like broken glass and old cars that bounce 80 inches in the air.

Since the plan has no real plan for making any revenue, it will become a burden on the City and/or State. And if the conversationalists have had 13 years to raise cash and are nowhere near what they need to even save the ballpark, then on what basis should we believe that there can be funds to sustain such a thing? We’re about to lose the Auto Show because Cobo Hall is getting too expensive to upkeep. The biggest success of this movement? Getting congress to earmark money just for this effort, which shows you how desperate things are.

You can download the plan in “detail” from http://www.savetigerstadium.org

I’m all for building parks and revitilizing Urban Areas. But what Corktown really needs right now is some economic development. Something should take the place of this ballpark that will benefit the city. Corktown bar and restaurant owners have suffered quite a bit since they lost the ballpark business, and this is a great opportunity to put something there that has a real chance of sustaining itself and becoming a force for economic development.

What has happened is that Michigan and Trumbull has become a modern day Tiananmen Square, with people fighting so furiously to save this ballpark.

Which, by the way, looks like this currently:

With most of the site already demolished and cleared.

There has been ample time, but it’s time to let it go. Enjoy the memories of what once was and let it be. So many old stadiums around the country have gone to the wrecking ball. All were places of Glory and excitement for generations, and all could no longer serve their purpose.Not even New York cried such foul play when Yankee Stadium had it’s time to go.

Unmaintained buildings have been such a problem in this city. It’s better to let it go then to end up like some of the other places in the city.

I understand why people love the ballpark so much. I have some fond memories there myself, and as someone who loves historical preservation, this was a hard thing to come to terms with.

The ballpark should have closed, been renovated, then put back into use, but what is done is done. I highly commend the people who are working so hard to save Tiger Stadium, it’s impressive.

But realistically, what are we fighting for? Half of an old structure. Your memories won’t be gone; they won’t disappear with the building. The Tigers wont be gone, and all the good times that were had will still live in your mind for as long as you can hold on to them.

It’s time to say adieu, and focus efforts on something like MCS where we can actually turn a structure that can still be saved into something useful and self sustaining.

Till then, he stood there like the house by the side of the road, and watched it go by.

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