Posted Sep 14, 2011, 6:07 PM
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http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...rolet_off.html
Quote:
Detroit balks at Chevrolet offer to rehab baseball field at old Tiger Stadium site
Jonathan Oosting | MLive.com
September 14, 2011
The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation has rejected an offer by Chevorlet to pay for rehabilitation of the baseball field at site of old Tiger Stadium, which the city has largely ignored as it attempts to lure would-be developers.
In an August 9 letter sent to Mayor Dave Bing and DEGC President George Jackson, Chevy promotional manager Phil Caruso explained how the auto brand could help makeover the field for youth baseball this year:
Chevrolet is offering to provide financing and labor (in the form of employee volunteers) to put the field at the site of Tiger Stadium back into playable shape as part of our commitment to revitalizing Detroit and to help support the Tiger Stadium Conservancy's efforts to more fully develop the location. We have had informal discussions with both the Conservancy and the Detroit Tigers and both support our efforts to refurbish the field.
Once the field has been refurbished we'd anticipate the city and/or Conservancy would be responsible for on-going maintenance and any additional element on-site. What we'd provide, frankly, is a new ballpark for Detroit's youth on the site of the city's most hallowed baseball stadium.
But Jackson, in a subsequent letter sent to Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy President Thom Linn, made it abundatly clear the DEGC, which acts on behalf of the city's Economic Development Corporation, was not interested in the offer.
"The site you refer to is a valuable piece of property for redevelopment because of its size and location," he wrote. "It is being reserved for a comprehensive development that will bring a substantial investment and new economic activity to the city.
"Most developers would see any arrangement such as the one you propose a significant obstacle. Ceding management of the site under even an interim arrangement is not acceptbable to us."
Jackson, of course, did not mention the fact that the city already has essentially ceded management to community volunteers who have been maintaining the field and mowing the grass while the DEGC waits for a redevelopment project to materialize.
The DEGC rejected several proposals for the site last year, including the promising mixed-use Corner Development plan, and did not respond to our inquiries for this story.
Meanwhile, the conservancy is looking for ways to spend a fully obligated $3.8 million federal earmark secured by Sen. Carl Levin in an unsuccessful attempt to save a portion of Tiger Stadium from the wrecking ball in 2009.
"Not withstanding the city's current lack of interest in redeveloping the field, that's what we'd like to use it for," Linn told MLive.com. "They have kind of a different vision for the site, but I think there would be community support for maintenance of the ball field."
The conservancy plans to meet with Levin this month to discuss the earmark, which includes open-ended language allowing the funds to be used for "preservation and redevelopment of a public park and related business activities" in Corktown.
Since the city appears unwilling to work with the conservancy on the old Tiger Stadium site, it is increasingly likely the funds will go toward other local projects. The conservancy does not intend to return the earmark, as suggested in a recent editorial by The Detroit News.
"The money was designated by Congress for use in Detroit," Linn said. "We're committed to seeing that it's used for the benefit of the Corktown."
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