Wolf
Senior Member
Looks like the end is near for Tiger Stadium. 
At least the City of Detroit doesn't have to lay out any money to bring the house down. Doing it for scrap value.
Do you think the tree huggers will be successful in their plan to plan to save a dugout-to-dugout corner of the stadium as a community center and museum? Does it even make sense?
:beatsme
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With the awarding of a demolition contract today by the city, the debate over old Tiger Stadium is shifting to whether to knock down all of the historic ballpark or to save a corner of it.
At the very least, a demolition team is likely to start razing about 75% of the ballpark in May or June, as soon as the contract approved today is signed and the contractors get their effort in place.
But Corktown neighborhood activists pleaded today for more time to raise money for their plan to save a dugout-to-dugout corner of the stadium as a community center and museum.
Detroit’s Economic Development Corp., a quasi-public arm of the city, awarded the demolition contract to a joint venture of MCM Management Corp. of Bloomfield Hills and The Farrow Group of Detroit. The team will tear down the stadium at no cost to the city and make its money by selling the scrap, estimated to run $1 million or more in value.
Sharon Malinowski, a restaurant owner in the area and a special director of the EDC on the stadium project, was the only one to vote against the demolition contract Tuesday, saying she thought the city ought to give the non-profit Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy beyond more time to raise money to save a portion of the ballpark. Right now, the conservancy is working against a June 1 deadline to raise needed funds.
“They’re a small group and they’re struggling against big odds, and I think the city could do more to help them secure the funding,” she told the EDC board. “That stadium means a lot to all the people of Detroit. It’s not just a business venture. I’d like to see them get more time and more help.”
George Jackson, president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and the city’s chief development officer, indicated that his organization’s patience was running thin.
“We’ve bent over backwards,” he said of working with the conservancy. “We’ve given a grace period that no other city in the history of this country has given in regards to maintaining a stadium or renovating one.”
One complicating factor is that the demolition team has promised to pay the city $300,000 if granted permission by June 1 to tear down the entire stadium. If the debate over the fate of the conservancy’s plans goes beyond that point, the city would not get that money.
That means the conservancy is working under a deadline of June 1 to come up with at least $369,000 to pay the EDC. Some $300,000 would make up for the money not coming form the demolition company and $69,000 would cover six months’ worth of security and maintenance. If that money is not in hand, the EDC will proceed with demolishing the entire stadium, Jackson said.
The total cost of the conservancy’s project would be about $15 million, yet to be raised.
At least the City of Detroit doesn't have to lay out any money to bring the house down. Doing it for scrap value.Do you think the tree huggers will be successful in their plan to plan to save a dugout-to-dugout corner of the stadium as a community center and museum? Does it even make sense?
:beatsme
________________________________________________________________
With the awarding of a demolition contract today by the city, the debate over old Tiger Stadium is shifting to whether to knock down all of the historic ballpark or to save a corner of it.
At the very least, a demolition team is likely to start razing about 75% of the ballpark in May or June, as soon as the contract approved today is signed and the contractors get their effort in place.
But Corktown neighborhood activists pleaded today for more time to raise money for their plan to save a dugout-to-dugout corner of the stadium as a community center and museum.
Detroit’s Economic Development Corp., a quasi-public arm of the city, awarded the demolition contract to a joint venture of MCM Management Corp. of Bloomfield Hills and The Farrow Group of Detroit. The team will tear down the stadium at no cost to the city and make its money by selling the scrap, estimated to run $1 million or more in value.
Sharon Malinowski, a restaurant owner in the area and a special director of the EDC on the stadium project, was the only one to vote against the demolition contract Tuesday, saying she thought the city ought to give the non-profit Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy beyond more time to raise money to save a portion of the ballpark. Right now, the conservancy is working against a June 1 deadline to raise needed funds.
“They’re a small group and they’re struggling against big odds, and I think the city could do more to help them secure the funding,” she told the EDC board. “That stadium means a lot to all the people of Detroit. It’s not just a business venture. I’d like to see them get more time and more help.”
George Jackson, president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and the city’s chief development officer, indicated that his organization’s patience was running thin.
“We’ve bent over backwards,” he said of working with the conservancy. “We’ve given a grace period that no other city in the history of this country has given in regards to maintaining a stadium or renovating one.”
One complicating factor is that the demolition team has promised to pay the city $300,000 if granted permission by June 1 to tear down the entire stadium. If the debate over the fate of the conservancy’s plans goes beyond that point, the city would not get that money.
That means the conservancy is working under a deadline of June 1 to come up with at least $369,000 to pay the EDC. Some $300,000 would make up for the money not coming form the demolition company and $69,000 would cover six months’ worth of security and maintenance. If that money is not in hand, the EDC will proceed with demolishing the entire stadium, Jackson said.
The total cost of the conservancy’s project would be about $15 million, yet to be raised.