ITS OFFICIAL: Yankee Stadium will be replaced.....

Its all over the news here in NYC........

This below is the site.......Macombs Dam Park



Yankees Propose New Stadium, and Would Pay
By CHARLES V. BAGLI

Published: July 30, 2004

he New York Yankees will soon unveil plans to build a new $700 million, open-air stadium across 161st Street from its present home in the Bronx, according to team executives and elected officials, and the team is willing to pay much of the cost of construction.

The team's willingness to put up so much cash reflects a significant change from the team's earlier proposals for a new stadium during the administration of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, when the Yankees offered to pay half the construction cost, and appears to have enhanced its prospects with the Bloomberg administration. At a City Hall meeting two weeks ago, the Yankees got a relatively positive reception from members of the Bloomberg administration.

The team continues to tinker with the plan but intends to present a final proposal to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Governor George E. Pataki in the coming weeks. The new, slightly smaller ballpark, with about 50,000 seats and 50 luxury boxes, would be built in Macombs Dam Park, just to the north of the existing stadium, an American sports shrine.

The city and state would probably have to spend around $100 million, officials said. Primarily, the city would be asked to create a string of ball fields and parks nearby that would lead down to the Harlem River, north of the Bronx Terminal market, to offset the loss of parkland in the neighborhood. The state would be asked to build a Metro-North train stop along its tracks adjacent to the field.

The existing stadium, which opened in 1923 and has been the site of 33 World Series, would not be demolished, at least not most of it. It would be converted, possibly, to a multilevel parking garage with a soccer field on top, while retaining the ball field and the most recognizable elements of the structure.

Although the Yankees now lead the major leagues by drawing nearly 3.5 million fans a year at their aging, outmoded home, the team's principal owner, George Steinbrenner, has long wanted a modern stadium with wider concourses, restaurants, more luxury boxes and club seating that would generate millions more in revenue and increase the value of the team.

The new stadium would have about 6,000 fewer seats but 39 more luxury boxes and far better sight lines, according to executives who have seen the plans. The team also saved money from an earlier proposal by eliminating a retractable roof, a feature that could cost $200 million. The proposal dovetails with a redevelopment plan sponsored by the Bronx borough president, Adolfo Carrión, for the neighborhood, which includes a site for a hotel, retail shops, commercial development, a Metro-North station, an improved ferry terminal on the Harlem River and a shopping mall at the Bronx Terminal Market.

Neither the Yankees nor city officials were willing to comment publicly yesterday on the details of the proposal, but the Yankees showed their plans to city officials earlier this month, and the team conceded that a proposal was in the works.

"The Yankees are continuing to plan for a new stadium," said Randy Levine, president of the Yankees. "We're speaking with many people in government and in the community, but we don't have anything to present yet."

Mr. Carrión, who was in Boston for the Democratic National Convention, said he would soon release a comprehensive plan for the area surrounding Yankee Stadium.

"We've been talking to the Yankees for two years," he said. "There's some pretty serious planning brewing here. We'll be able to give a full-blown presentation pretty soon."

The Yankees' latest proposal is a remarkable turnabout for a legendary ball club that once threatened to abandon the Bronx for New Jersey unless the city and state helped it build a $1 billion stadium on the West Side of Manhattan. It seems to take into account new political realities and the volatility of government subsidies for sports buildings among the public.

At the same time, the team's plan is likely to provoke greater scrutiny of plans for the city and state to provide a $600 million subsidy for a $1.4 billion, 75,000-seat football stadium for the Jets and to do $187.7 million in road and rail yard work for the proposed $435 million Nets basketball arena in Brooklyn.

Story link.....

 

Codell,

The Architect is HOK Sport.....a division of the company I used to work for. Most of you should know who HOK Sport is already. All three Houston venues were designed (or in TC's case, partly) by HOK Sport. I no longer work for HOK Sport, just the commercial side of things here in NY. But I am relatively close to info regarding the project......

You wont see updated renderings of the new park until later this month. The Yanks are shooting for a tentatively scheduled date of Aug. 15th for public unveiling of the project. But this could change depending on the political side of this deal......which has yet to be worked out officially, but is imminent.

This pic posted below is what Steinbrenner had in mind for the original proposal back in 2001. The updated design WILL NOT include a retractable roof, but the exterior will look mostly like the 2001 proposal, minus roof. The big difference for the interior is the subtraction of the left field upper deck and the inclusion of a right field porch and overhanging upper deck, just like at the stadium. The design itself is intended to invoke memories of Yankee Stadium I (pre 1976 renovation). The stadium will tentatively seat 50,000 and have around 50 suites.

I can tell you that the Times has the intent for the ole stadium wrong though. Part of it will be a garage, a part that makes me mad as some of you can tell. But most of it will be set aside for an elaborate museum, conference center, team shop and restaurant and possibly a hotel. (details still being worked out on the hotel)

FYI........the 2001 proposal was made for the same exact spot, Macombs Dam Park, across form Yankee Stadium

2001 proposal........

 

Okay lets try this again..........

The pics of the 2001 proposal.......

 

One more thing.........

With the subtraction of the roof, dont expect the exterior facade to have such an angled look as at was in the 2001 proposal. It was made angular then to conform with the retractable roof.

But now, with the retractable roof idea nixed, the exterior will now adopt the more well rounded design of the typical new age retro park.