Condos, Shops May Spring Up After City Razes Most of Beloved Tigers Ballpark

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DETROIT -- Rumored for years, the final days of Tiger Stadium are approaching fast and if city officials get their way, stores and condos will replace the one-time home of baseball legends Ty Cobb and Al Kaline.

Details are scarce, but Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is expected to announce next week he intends to demolish the 94-year-old stadium soon to make way for a mixed-use development of 150 condos atop 40-50 retail shops on the 8.5-acre site.

The city has yet to secure developers, however, and still must seek bids for the plan that would maintain the original entrance of the stadium as a gateway and leave the baseball diamond as a park for Little League games and festivals.

The proposal follows years of criticism that the stadium was left to rot after the Tigers moved to Comerica Park following the 1999 season. The proposal was developed by neighbors at Greater Corktown Development Corp. and has been in the works since last fall.

"I loved this plan since Day One," said George Jackson, president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. charged with making the proposal a reality.

"I just couldn't talk about it. This is the first time in years we saw something that wasn't pie in the sky. Yes, the stadium will be demolished, but we will have respect for the historical significance of the site and also practical uses for the park."

Jackson said a handful of developers have expressed interest, but he declined to name them.

Razing the structure will cost $2 million to $5 million, which the city hopes to recoup by selling the stadium piece by piece at auction.

Cost estimates are premature, and Jackson said details won't be firmed up for about six months. Sources close to the decision said the stadium will be razed as soon as fall.

"It's time to move forward," said Ceeon Quiett, spokeswoman for Kilpatrick. "This represents a true collaboration with the community and our desire for economic development."

Some of Kilpatrick's other announcements about redevelopment plans haven't come to fruition. Plans to convert the ramshackle Michigan Central Depot train station into police headquarters, for instance, have gone nowhere.

And, as recently as April, city officials recommended building a replacement for Joe Louis Arena on the site of Tiger Stadium, according to documents obtained by The Detroit News.

"I'll believe this when I see it," said Peter Comstock Riley, president of Michigan and Trumbull LLC, which submitted seven plans to re-use Tiger Stadium.

"The city is just tired of people like me calling them out. The stadium has become too much of a pain in the (rear). I'm not against action, but this is ridiculous. It's not happening."

R. Scott Martin, executive director of the Corktown group, said the proposal "is absolutely going to happen."

"We have developers calling two to three times a week eager to move this forward," he said.

Treading on sacred ground

There has been a surge of speculation about the demise of Tiger Stadium since The News reported in March that city officials ruled out rehabbing the existing structure. Still, word of the deal floored fans.

Opened in 1912, Tiger Stadium is considered sacred grounds by many. It's the site that unites generations who flocked to the field to see legends from Charlie Gehringer and Hank Greenberg to Alan Trammell and Kirk Gibson.

For many, demolishing the ballpark is akin to blowing up a cathedral. Even before the stadium was built, the corner of Michigan and Trumbull was home to baseball games since 1896. Through the years, the site has been known as Bennett Park, Navin Field and Briggs Stadium.

"I went to Tiger Stadium as a kid; it'd be a tragedy to tear down the stadium," said Joe Foglia, 22, of Windsor, who watched the Tigers play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Comerica on Thursday.

Those who live near the stadium, however, welcomed the news. Louis Coban, 32, who can see the park from his front yard, said "anything would be better. They need to do something with it. It will help business around here."

Detroit, which owns the stadium, has paid Tigers owner Ilitch Holdings Corp. about $400,000 a year to maintain the defunct park. That pool of money, which came from a Tigers ticket surcharge in the 1990s, expired this spring.

A group of preservationists has accused city officials of conspiring with Ilitch to destroy the stadium by neglect and ignoring scores of redevelopment plans. News of the pending announcement didn't quell the drumbeat of criticism.

"There's no accountability, and if there is no accountability, they can do whatever they want," said David Malhalab, a retired Detroit police officer.

Jackson called the naysaying a "smear campaign" and invited critics to support the field by giving money to its upkeep. The Corktown plan calls for a community-led conservancy to maintain the portion of the ballpark to be surrounded by shops and condos.

Karen Cullen, a spokeswoman for the Ilitches, said they had no role in deciding the future of the stadium. Critics have questioned what the money spent for maintenance bought -- especially since the interior of the stadium appears to be crumbling -- but Cullen said the city called the shots.

"It's up to the city what to do with the ballpark," she said. "They tell us what they want us to do, and we do as we are told."

Jackson called many of the earlier proposals to redevelop Tiger Stadium "weird" and unfeasible.

A long time coming

The News obtained those proposals and city memos about the future of the stadium through the Freedom of Information Act. The documents, more than 500 pages in all, show developers proposed everything from RV parks to a Hispanic university.

The documents, however, also reveal that a few developers submitted plans as long as five years ago that city officials deemed worthwhile. For undisclosed reasons, however, they were rejected.

An April 26 memo by community planning official Clarence Lee stated the city was leaning toward a plan to convert the stadium into a "destination-type development (for a) new Joe Louis/Red Wings Hockey Stadium."

Jackson said the pending plan has the backing of neighbors and should satisfy most in Detroit. The city had considered approaching a big-box retailer such as Wal-Mart, but neighbors did not support that idea, he said.

"If we went to a vote in the city, there would be a landslide to tear it down," Jackson said.