Why isn't Rigley or Fenway torn down yet ?

1970s

I just don't understand it. The Yankees and Montreal Canadians have torn down their buildings.
Pretty much every other MLB, NHL, and NBA stadium has been torn down. Even the Celtics built a new building.

Soccer powers Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich built newer, nicer stadiums.

It seems like everyone is doing it, but the Cubbies and Red Sox do not. And we all know they've got mega millions to get the job done.

So what's stopping these two franchises from doing it ? If the answer is "tradition", then why wasn't Yankee stadium more important to keep, or the Montreal Forum ?

bronco2078

I don't know but as a taxpayer if the Red Sox said to the state we need a new park or we will move I'd say pay for it yourself or get lost.

I think people are over the idea of paying for these buildings so they can turn around and raise ticket prices .


Baseball is dying anyway . They need to fix the game pretty soon or they will be needing smaller buildings

pitboss

Why should they want to tear down Fenway and build a new park when it is still serviceable although old and uncomfortable to sit in.

It has a glorious past and they own it instead of owning a mortgage.

Fans still come to the tune of 30K a game which is plenty to almost fill it for every game.

Will a new and un-payed for ball park make them more money?

I don't think so !

I myself don't go because I live over 2000 miles away but used to go regularly when I lived there and now never miss a game on tv.

Yes, they have the money to do whatever they want but why spend it if they don't have to just to say they have a fancy new ball park and I am sure the folks that own Wrigley feel the same way.

Barndog

<< <i>I don't know but as a taxpayer if the Red Sox said to the state we need a new park or we will move I'd say pay for it yourself or get lost.

I think people are over the idea of paying for these buildings so they can turn around and raise ticket prices .


Baseball is dying anyway . They need to fix the game pretty soon or they will be needing smaller buildings >>



elected officials listen to taxpayers? Ha! Massachusetts politicians would line up to rake taxpayers over the coals for money to support the Red Sox.

sparky64

Because they are living museums.

Never been to Fenway, so no comment.

I liked the old Yankee stadium and tolerated its shortcomings because......well, it's Yankee Stadium.
The new one is much better.

I found Wrigley to be completely adequate and enjoyable.

pitboss

Fenway is a great place to watch a game. I moved from Mass before the new seats above the wall were put in but they say it is a great place to view a game. The seats are too small for my comfort now so my easy chair gives me a good seat for all games. Now if i could only get the same atmosphere.

telephoto1

With Wrigley the problem isn't the park anymore...it is finally getting needed renovations. My big gripe has always been the outdated infrastructure of the surrounding neighborhoods and lack of sufficient nearby parking.

BLUEJAYWAY

LA just approved plans this past week for the construction of a football stadium. Don't know if public monies will be involved or not. Hope not, but municipalities being what they are, the glamor of a sports franchise is a temptation local/state gov'ts. can't resist.And they sell it to the taxpayers under job creation (Union construction workers etc.) Job creation means votes.

PSASAP

Someone who can't even spell Wrigley correctly obviously has no reverence for the history of the ballpark.

pitboss

Wrigley and Fenway both have tons of history. i have never been to Wrigley but they were both built so long ago in old time cities that the infrastructure surrounding them has deteriorated drastically and the parking is almost non-exsiting but the cost to build a new park in both Chicago and Boston and making the taxpayers pay for it is crazy. Moving them to a location like the NE Patriots did with theirs in Foxboro is the ideal situation because the land is available and fairly cheap. I doubt the desire is there on the part on the Sox ownership to get involved with moving the team out of Boston though. i know nothing about the Cubs though.

MCMLVTopps

The history of Fenway Park makes it a National Treasure. If you've been there you know what I mean...if you haven't, well, you gotta go...yes, even if you're a Yankee's fan.

I think there would be an uproar heard on Pluto if plans were ever developed to replace such a hallowed ground...Babe Ruth pitched there and the history rolls from there. Crappy seats don't keep fans away and the parking is abysmal to say the least. But, heard throughout New England on those beautiful Spring and Summer days..."hey, I got Sox tix, you wanna go?".

The addition of the Green Monster seats and the other seat additions down the right field line are making the best of a finite space...besides, Boston proper has limited space to rebuild.

I am blessed to have seen both Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle play in Fenway many times. Mickey right before me scrambling in the pea gravel at the base of the 420' triangle...BIG thrill for a young kid !!

FENWAY FOREVER

Estil

It's bad enough we lost Tiger and Comiskey (and that was only because Jerry threw a tantrum threatening to move to Florida if they didn't). Not sure if the other older classic stadiums could've reasonably been saved...

mlbfan2

As they say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," right? Wrigley and Fenway are often at or near the top of lists of the best ballparks.

http://athlonsports.com/mlb/ranking-best-and-worst-mlb-ballparks-2014
1. Wrigley
2. Fenway

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/lists/Major-League-Baseball-10-best-ballparks
3. Wrigley
6. Fenway

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/54586264/
1. Wrigley
2. Fenway

pitboss

I sure agree with you. I remember sitting in the $1.00 ( i believe it was less than that in the 40's when my father used to take me) bleacher seats as a Kid back in the late 40's and early 50's. Great place.

coinkat

if you don't like Fenway or Wrigley, don't go there.

Wrigley and Fenway is all that remains of MLB from the days when it was great.

skrezyna23

I've been to both. Wrigley needed to get some renovations badly, especially the bathrooms. Its a great place for baseball. They definitely need to do a better job with concessions and getting better food (like Comiskey). Fenway was a beauty and the seats were perfect for me being 5'6". People were smaller back at the turn of the century so it makes sense the seats were small.

I never made it to Tiger Stadium but wish I had. Old Comiskey reminds me of the games my dad took me to. It's refreshing to see the old golden box seats (old Comiskey) in the background of many of Mattingly's cards.

Estil

I would've loved to have seen the Boston Garden...but that too just got torn down and replaced by some generic FleetCenter

Oh yes, I'm sure a corporate named generic arena is just great for sightseeing...

perkdog

I think I got a Fenway Park Bleacher seat ticket from the mid 70's that has a $3.00 price on it.

No need to tear these down, the tickets and everything else is price gouging as it is, Im not sure how much more they can stab people for if they ever decided to go with new stadiums.

bronco2078

<< <i>I think I got a Fenway Park Bleacher seat ticket from the mid 70's that has a $3.00 price on it.

No need to tear these down, the tickets and everything else is price gouging as it is, Im not sure how much more they can stab people for if they ever decided to go with new stadiums. >>




I went to camp in Brookline in the 1970's and we would hop the fence and get on the green line and go sit in the bleachers and watch games and for some reason I remember $6.00 but that may have included the streetcar. I'm not positive we actually paid to ride the streetcar at all though

People still ride the green line for free by getting on the middle and holding up an empty ticket .

perkdog

<< <i>

<< <i>I think I got a Fenway Park Bleacher seat ticket from the mid 70's that has a $3.00 price on it.

No need to tear these down, the tickets and everything else is price gouging as it is, Im not sure how much more they can stab people for if they ever decided to go with new stadiums. >>




I went to camp in Brookline in the 1970's and we would hop the fence and get on the green line and go sit in the bleachers and watch games and for some reason I remember $6.00 but that may have included the streetcar. I'm not positive we actually paid to ride the streetcar at all though

People still ride the green line for free by getting on the middle and holding up an empty ticket . >>



I will have to dig that ticket up and get the date and cost of the ticket, I might be wrong but I know it was cheap!

garnettstyle

I miss Tiger stadium.

pitboss

I know of nobody that wants Fenway torn down.

That would be a disgrace as far as I am concerned.

I wish I could get back there just once to sit in the monster seats but I doubt if that will ever happen.

FavreFan1971

I have been to both stadiums and Fenway is well kept. Great history and decent food. You can't tear that one down.

Wrigley on the other hand is a friggin' cesspool of filth. They let it go way too long. The renovations were needed in the 80's. I stopped going to Wrigley because of the bathrooms. Once this round of work is done I will go back and see if it is worth the trip.

Estil

<< <i>I know of nobody that wants Fenway torn down.

That would be a disgrace as far as I am concerned.

I wish I could get back there just once to sit in the monster seats but I doubt if that will ever happen. >>



The previous owners did. On ballparks.com you can see what the New Fenway would've looked like.

telephoto1

<< <i>I have been to both stadiums and Fenway is well kept. Great history and decent food. You can't tear that one down.

Wrigley on the other hand is a friggin' cesspool of filth. They let it go way too long. The renovations were needed in the 80's. I stopped going to Wrigley because of the bathrooms. Once this round of work is done I will go back and see if it is worth the trip. >>



Last time I was at Wrigley the bathroom I used was fine. That was last season (Cards/Cubs game-I'm a STL fan). I was more concerned about fragments of concrete coming down-there was mesh hanging from the ceiling to catch any such stray chunks.

Estil

In your defense, St. Louis may have had a "cookie cutter" but at least it did have the arches all around it, and the inside had distinctive Cardinal red seats and other distinctively Cardinal sorts of things. I'm sure you don't mind your newer brick Busch Stadium III though.

telephoto1

<< <i>In your defense, St. Louis may have had a "cookie cutter" but at least it did have the arches all around it, and the inside had distinctive Cardinal red seats and other distinctively Cardinal sorts of things. I'm sure you don't mind your newer brick Busch Stadium III though. >>



I didn't like the old space station Busch much. OK ballpark, looked nice but it had zero air circulation unless you were in the uppermost nosebleed seats...it was like sitting in an oven. Anyone who goes to a summer day game in STL knows how bad it can get even WITH a breeze. The new Busch has more of an old school ballpark feel, is more open and the seats work better for my 6'4" frame. (Unlike Wrigley, where the seats were evidently built by the seven dwarves.)

Estil

People on average weren't nearly as tall then (look it up). And I was just watching the Rocky movies again and wouldn't you know it? The Philadelphia Spectrum is where the first two Rocky fights took place, plus a certain other sporting event in 1992 I'd rather not talk about. Geez, maybe I should go on a sight seeing trip and go see it...oh wait, I guess that too is now just a pile of rubble replaced by what, some other generic corporate arena?

Stingray

Went to Wrigley last year for the first time last year, did the tour and went to a game. Never seen so many beer vendors at a ballgame, they were passing by about every 20 seconds.

Estil

At least you went to a park where the tour is worth it! Think about how much fun and historical it would be to do the same for the original Comiskey and Tiger Stadium? I mean there's nothing special about New Comiskey and Comerica (corporate sellout...) worth touring.

And in the case of UK, we do have Rupp Arena (I think whenever the time comes to replace it the name of the new place should be "Rupp Hall" to also honor Joe B. Hall) but we still have the old Memorial Coliseum (where coach's office is to this day; yes Cal is in the same office as Rupp and all the rest!), where we still keep our basketball championship trophies (I'd still love to see our Runner-Up, Final Four trophies and all the rest of the hardware though), so it's like we have the best of both worlds! Sadly our old football stadium that was across the street did get torn down.

DIMEMAN

Because these are the only 2 neat parks left. Why tear them down and build a new plastic generic park like everybody else has!

PSASAP

What do people want? Let's see:
1. Seats wide enough to fit wide loads.
2. Ample parking within 100 yards of the ballpark.
3. Gigantic high definition screens, with lots of gimmicky distractions, like dot racing, in between innings.
4. Places within the ballpark to take their 4 year old, like a slow pitch batting cage.
5. Tons of concession stands, so the wait time is no more than 5-10 minutes, with a flat screen hanging nearby, so you can keep up with the action.
6. Restaurants, bars and retail stores located within the vicinity of the ballpark.

Fenway and Wrigley will never have all, or even half of the things that people want now. If you're willing to make compromises on what you can live with, and are not constantly comparing these parks to ones built a year ago, then you may find that the experience is unique and worthwhile.