Last Chance Saloon for Tiger Stadium. Though the demo contracts have been finalized, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has given Ernie Harwell and the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy one more chance to save the fabled stadium. Their newest, and last, deadline is until Aug. 1. If they can't raise funds by then, well, Detroit will finally have to say "Goodbye" to Tiger Stadium.
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The nonprofit conservancy group, which includes Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, hasn't abandoned its efforts to produce a solid $12 million to $15 million plan that could save the baseball diamond, 3,000 seats and convert part of it to sport museum that would house Harwell's extensive collection of sports memorabilia. The group, which was given months of extensions to come up with a plan, missed a key deadline to produce $369,000 to the city on June 1. The group insists it will continue to fight for the stadium until it's actually torn down.
Since its closure after the Tigers moved to Comerica Park in 1999, the stadium has been a field of development dreams. Proposals have included converting it into a bull fighting ring, a Wal-Mart or some other big-box retailer, a home for a minor league baseball, a rugby field, the new Kronk gym, an upscale hotel and trendy lofts, and a warehouse for a local publisher.
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