Bye Tiger Stadium

I attempted to write this for Preservation Wayne. Fingers crossed as to whether they publish it or not:

The Lost Battle for Tiger Stadium

By Kevin Bunkley

Normally an economically-crimped city wouldn't spend 400,000 dollars over using a 3.8 million dollar grant, but the city of Detroit is full of surprises. It's new mayor, the honorable Dave Bing, was mute on a major issue that stood before him, and now, after a week-long fight, Tiger Stadium will be no more. The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy worked hard to protect what was still standing of the stadium, and at the end of a long and difficult road to preservation, more powerful business interests won out. 27 million dollars worth of it. The Conservancy had Ernie Harwell, and they had Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.). They had the money (almost), and they had plans. The city was gracious in the amount of time it granted to attempt to finish raising the money, but political and economic pressure did in the final push to save the old ballpark on Michigan and Trumbull. It's hard to decide where more blame resides between the office of the mayor or the members of the Economic Growth Corporation, but the only thing that will be left is the fleeting memory that another historic site, both for the country and the state, will be buried beneath new, sterile structures designed to bring in dollars.

"The retention of this historic gem has and could draw positive attention to Detroit and your administration," The OTSC said in a letter submitted to the mayor's office. "On the other hand, the demolition of the remnants of Tiger Stadium would increase the negative impressions of Detroit and your administration. The impacts on future development interests in Detroit would be put in jeopardy," the letter continued. But a long tradition of community pride and the potential for a beacon of restoration has been lost at the end of this process, and the story of Tiger Stadium deserved a better ending.

Baseball had been played there since 1896. The Tigers moved in in 1912, and remained there until 1999. It hosted American League Championship games, and housed the Lions (the old Lions) for two decades. It is as old as Fenway Park, yet stood vacant for ten long years -- a generous epoch of time for certain Detroit-area individuals to devise some sort of use for the structure. Anything other than complete destruction would have been a win, given the circumstances under which its life was threatened. At times it was used for smaller baseball events or community activities, but it was in such disrepair, it became hard to justify leaving it standing. The Conservancy advocated for saving at least the most vital parts -- the field, the facade, things that still identified that spot in downtown Detroit as the spot in which Cobb, Gibson and Kaline made Detroit cheer. Why is it that its sister park, Fenway, can be refurbished and modified, but Tiger Stadium cannot even be partially saved for the benefit of a community that cherishes it?

Former team owner John Fetzer never would have wanted Tiger Stadium destroyed. His generosity in 1978 allowed the Tigers to continue playing there for twenty more years, by allowing the city of Detroit to lease back the stadium to help finance renovations. I myself know he wouldn't have wanted this fate. I once worked in the Kalamazoo building that bears his name. I've stared at the World Series trophy he won as the owner of the team, and never thought the stadium that hosted those championship years would be torn down.

The battle to save the stadium went on for far too long, and was plagued by inaction by too many people in important positions. Former mayor Kilpatrick notwithstanding, present Mayor Bing and even Mike Ilitch are responsible for the large stadium slipping through their fingers. Mayor Bing is to be comended for not voting in the 6-1 decision by the Economic Growth Corporation that authorized the full demolition, but failed to recognize the merits of saving the structure. "Most of the stadium was demolished in 2008, but what remains still carries historical significance," Conservancy board member Gary Gillette said in an article that appeared in The Michigan Messenger.

The city turned away a four million dollar fund, and a potential net gain of 22 million dollars, to provide itself with a prominent empty lot in a city overpopulated with empty lots. This newest one being in plain view of the hub of Detroit's rebirth. The paradox of a city that is attempting to cleanse away its unsightly side allowing a glaring and ugly public dispute over historic property to create a wedge between leadership and its constituents is nothing short of shocking.

In the end, the Conservancy ran out of time in an environment where time was not a constraint. Suggestions were floated for turning the site into a space in which the field would remain along with parts of the structure, in the interest of creating a green space in a downtown that has no true green spaces. The OTSCG put forth an exceptional effort, but the Detroit City Council and the Office of the Mayor washed their hands of any involvement in saving Detroit's premeir landmark. The demolition has begun, and with it go the hopes that Detroit would back up its rhetoric for reinventing its districts with tangible action. May the empty corner on Michigan and Trumbull forever serve as a reminder that when historic preservation and public officials don't find common ground, the result is one that neither side wants, and in turn everyone suffers; There's only so many "Most Endangered Places in America," and when we fail to save them, the result is always the same: an empty lot.