Tiger Stadium plan hits a snag

Board rejects razing proposal touted by mayor, argues park can be saved.

David Josar / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Plans to demolish Tiger Stadium are starting to unravel as the city planning commission Thursday night refused to approve the plan touted by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick for the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.

In rejecting the plan to raze the structure and build housing and retail venues in its place, commissioners said they didn't believe enough has been done to preserve the structure and that they don't see the rush to get the stadium razed.

The commission voted 5-1 to reject the plan, with one abstention.

Commissioners repeatedly cited the Book-Cadillac Building, which had been left for dead for years after being shuttered in 1980 but is now being renovated and touted as a jewel of the city.

Art Papapanos, vice president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., the quasi-government agency that is spearheading the Tiger Stadium Redevelopment Project for the city, said so far there have been no viable proposals, that no Major League Baseball stadium has been redeveloped and that as long as Tiger Stadium stands it costs the city in maintenance and security costs.

Those arguments fell on deaf ears Thursday.

"Why can't Detroit take the lead and be the first to do" it? Commissioner Marilyn White asked.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Thomas Christensen said he believed the administration would do whatever it wanted with the stadium whether or not the commission believed it was an appropriate use of the property.

"It sounds like you're going to tear it down no matter what," Christensen said, suggesting that the only way to control what happens on the site in the future is to implement zoning changes that would require more oversight of the project.

Still, the stadium's final fate rests in the hands of the Detroit City Council.

Earlier this week the council deferred a decision until the commission gave its input on the project.

The council plans to address Tigers Stadium again on Monday.

The commissioners asked pointed questions of Papapanos and other representatives of Detroit Economic Growth Corp., who say they want pieces of the stadium auctioned off by the end of the summer and demolition to begin by the end of the year.

The commissioners wanted to know why the city never seriously considered a plan to preserve the ballpark and use it for minor league baseball games, and whether the owners of the Detroit Tigers were nixing any plan that could compete for customers.

The backers of the minor league ballpark plan, first touted in 2002, did not have financial backing, nor did they have anyone with experience in the field, Papapanos explained.

Major League Baseball rules have proximity limits that would bar another one of their teams from playing in Detroit, planning department officials said, but another league could play at the stadium.

Still, the Economic Growth Group is working with the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy to preserve a portion of the ballpark that would be used for recreational games. For that to happen, however, they would need financial backers by the end of the year.

Council approval is needed for the overall plan, which includes demolition, as well as a disposition plan that would include auctioning off parts of the stadium for scrap and as memorabilia.

A council vote is also needed to allow whomever develops the site to get tax credits for reusing a site that would otherwise be unusable.

Fewer people turned up to listen to the commissioners than the 20 who addressed the council at a public hearing about the stadium earlier this week.

Still, at one point David Malhalab, a retired Detroit police sergeant active in the fight to keep Tiger Stadium standing, got to his feet and shouted at the commission. "You need to investigate what is going on," he said.

In recent weeks he has urged the City Council to tour the stadium to see if it is beyond reuse.

Commissioner Susan Glaser pressed city officials on when the stadium was last evaluated for structural integrity.

The last time that was done was in the mid-1990s when the Tigers were lobbying to move to a new ballpark.

You can reach David Josar at (313) 222-2073 or djosar@detnews.com.