  Tigersfan9 Member Username: Tigersfan9 Post Number: 108 Registered: 03-2005 |
I saw this in the Free Press this morning, regarding the two proposed plans that have come to City Council's attention for reuse of Tiger Stadium: "One, proposed by the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, envisions saving a little over 20% of the stadium as an events center and future home of the Hall of Fame." Does anyone know more about this plan? Have specifics of the plan or drawings been released? I'm curious to see how this compares to the Mayor's plan and to the Navin Field plan. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks. | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 9583 Registered: 10-2003 |
More importantly - have the finances been discussed? I hate it say it but the Michigan sports hall of fame has no draw. Throwing this idea out there sounds great but my money says there are no finances behind it or is there any real revenue stream anticipated. | ||
Scottr Member Username: Scottr Post Number: 616 Registered: 07-2006 |
It seems to me, portions of these plans could easily work together. Navin Field plan - stadium to be cut back to 12,000-15,000 seats, convention space and conference rooms, catering service, shops and a museum. (not sure if this involves any demolition, or just renovating existing space) Mayor's plan - most of stadium to be demolished, original entrance preserved, 150 condos, 40-50 shops, field maintained for festivals and little league games. MSHoF - save portion from dugout to dugout, including locker rooms, retail and residential where the rest of the stadium now stands. Obviously, financing is the main issue for any of these plans. Personally, I think a combination of all these would be great - maintain the field, MSHoF has a new home in a unique, historic, appropriate location, new shops and retail to boost the neighborhood, keep a portion of the stadium. But I don't have the millions to pay for it either. | ||
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall Post Number: 272 Registered: 05-2004 |
City is still waiting for someone to show them the money. | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 9610 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Interesting that people were insisting that there were viable options the city ignored or refused to hear. The city has pointed out that none of the proposals have real financial backing but nobody is coming out contesting that claim. Where are the viable proposals that the city was ignoring. Now would be a perfect time for someone to bring their proposals to the table. | ||
Xd_brklyn Member Username: Xd_brklyn Post Number: 263 Registered: 10-2003 |
As I take it, the Mayor's plan is to level everything including the field if there's no money upfront. Currently the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy, a part of the Corktown group, is looking to raise as much money as possible to keep as much of the stadium as they can. How much they have raised is unknown, but in this last press statement the Mayor still phrased the preservation of even the field as an "If". So question, how much will the mayor's current plan help the Corktown residents? Currently, the plan is to level Tiger Stadium leaving nothing but the field which will be a wreck after the demolition. They'll have a field, but how much of a field is uncertain. The one certain this is that they will have more empty lots to add to the other lots on both sides of Michigan. Supposedly this is a good a thing for the neighborhood because it will force the owners of the current empty lots to sell. It is also supposed to force the current lot owners to bring down their price. But how much will it bring down their price? And will the price difference be that meaningful? And if the lots downtown are artificially inflated by speculators, maybe the current land prices around Tiger Stadium are inflated because they are in the shadow of the new MGM Casino and downtown too? Will Tiger Stadium be torn down and the developers of Corktown still be looking at what they perceive to be exorbitant real estate pricing? And what type of retail will Corktown be getting on the former grounds of Tiger Stadium? Downtown residents right now are hungry for more retail and downtown gets ten times the amount of foot traffic as Corktown. Who says future retail developers for the site will be looking to serve Corktown? Doesn't it make sense for them to serve existing traffic on the nearby I-75 exit ramp? And aren't exit ramps served by strip malls and gas stations? And will strip malls and gas stations really raise the bar for Corktown? There is no guarantee for the Corktown people. And no developer has come forward saying they will build want the Corktown neighborhood wants, which if you read this forum it is to add more density to further their neighborhood to be more neighborly. So far the mayor's plans remain pure speculation. What is not speculation is that Tiger Stadium still stands and that groups like the MHoF, Nevin's Field plan, and Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy are people who want to make good use of the place. Also it is not unusual for grassroots organizations not to have money upfront. They get money by working for nothing or next-to-nothing and showing results. With their results they can show investors/donors/grant-givers that their money will not be going to waste. Fund-raising is a built around a "feel good" result. Unless you have the right person, I would say it near impossible to get funding on just promises or projections. Who knows if they will succeed if given the chance? I don't know. I've always thought it is better to have tried and than just say it can't be done. So essentially what I'm saying is to let these groups have Tiger Stadium and knock themselves out. Who knows what they will or won't be able to accomplish. The stadium doesn't look so good lately, so let them try while there's still time. (Message edited by xD_brklyn on July 23, 2007) | ||
Kslice Member Username: Kslice Post Number: 112 Registered: 04-2007 |
I like what this article has to say. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20060315/O PINION03/603150420/1283 I know its old but still makes a lot of sense. A minor league team would be nice to watch if you couldnt get tickets for the big game. It wouldnt even have to be a "Detroit" team, call em the South East Michigan somethings so the burbs will feel included too  | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1088 Registered: 11-2003 |
The mayor's plan refers to the "original entrance." Is he actually referring to the pseudo-old looking Michigan & Trumbull entrance, which historically was actually used for VIP parking? | ||
Drm Member Username: Drm Post Number: 1118 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote:No, Michigan & Cochrane. |
