President Obama might have the future of Tiger Stadium in his hands by the time you read this. The president is expected to sign the huge congressional spending bill that includes a $3.8 million earmark essential for the preservation of The Corner sometime this week.
"I think it's essentially certain that he will sign it," says Thom Linn, president of the
Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy.
That money is the linchpin to leveraging $22 million of the $27 million needed for preservation of the now downsized version of Tiger Stadium. That $22 million includes the earmark, money already raised and tax incentives this project expects to garner. Linn says the other $5 million will be raised from foundations, grants and other fundraising avenues.
The Conservancy expects to close on Tiger Stadium this summer and begin construction in early 2010. It will take about a year to finish the project. Detroit will have pulled off a first if that happens. No other pre-World War II baseball stadium has survived after its Major League Baseball team has left it, such as
Ebbets Field and
Comiskey Park. Only one or two other historic major sports complexes around the world have survived and found another useful purpose.
The Conservancy plans to keep both decks and a few thousand seats between first and third base, basically what the stadium looked like when it was Navin Field. The broadcast booth and dugouts will also be preserved. The rest of the structure will be turned into a combination of office and museum space. The field will be preserved for youth baseball games. It will also tie into the city's greenway network and serve as a catalyst for tourism and development in Corktown and Southwest Detroit.
The Conservancy tapped some big-time powerbrokers to make this deal happen.
Linn is a principal and chairman emeritus of the Miller Canfield law firm. U.S. Sen. and former Detroit City Councilman
Carl Levin also played a key part getting the federal dollars through. Other local city politicians and activists played critical roles in making this a reality.
Source: Thom Linn, president of Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy
Writer: Jon Zemke
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