The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy says they have the $12 million needed to preserve the Navin Field grandstand at Tiger Stadium.
The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy says they have the $12 million needed to preserve the Navin Field grandstand at Tiger Stadium. In a pitch today to the Detroit City Council and previously to the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, conservancy officials say they are expecting $4 million in federal funds (which could be approved as soon as January 2009) and $6 million in tax credits.
Couple that with the funds already raised by the group, and officials say they can move forward with a plan to take control of the site in summer 2009 and work toward a renovation of the 1912 grandstand, which opened the same day as Fenway Park and a day after the sinking of the Titantic. All of Tiger Stadium save the grandstand has been torn down.
Organizers expect to convert the grandstand to a facility housing memorabilia from the collection of longtime Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell. The field is expected to be preserved and used as a youth baseball field.