Another solid stadium to be replaced - Rangers will announce plans for new one

[BattleBorn]

I wonder if someone could come up with a way to cover a current stadium?

Kansas City had plans for a moving roof that looked like a Pringle potato chip that would have covered Kauffman and Arrowhead and move between the two. Voters rejected the proposal, and it wouldn't have helped the heat.

Plus, could you imagine the wind issues with a cover that has the home and 2nd base sides open on windy days? Place could have turned into a wind tunnel.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

The short lifespan of those 60s/70s stadiums was supposedly caused by their bad design though. The new parks were meant to rectify that problem. Also, consider that Fenway and Wrigley have now lasted over 100 years. Tiger Stadium lasted 87 years. Kauffman Stadium in KC is now 43 years old. Yankee Stadium lasted 85 years. It's not like a 30 year lifespan for a stadium is the norm.

The only people who want it to be the norm are team owners/developers who get the public to provide significant funding for massively profitable development schemes.

1994 was 21 years ago. Consider the Vet hosted the Phillies for 32, as did Riverfront Stadium hosting the Reds. Durability was supposed to be one of the appeals to these next-gen stadiums, but the basis of the longevity of everyone's previous stadiums, yeah, it's time to start talking new stadiums.

Now consider that the Braves will have played in Fulton-County longer than they will have in Turner Field (by a lot), which was a stadium that was built for the Olympics and converted for baseball as part of the project. The Expos lasted 27 in their converted stadium. The earliest the Rangers would play a game in a new stadium will be at least that long.

Both the Rangers and Braves stadiums are perfectly functional and are simply being replaced for logistic reasons.

 

[Buck Aki Berg]

I did a double-take when I saw the price tag - $900 million! Split between the city and the ownership. Damn, that is nearly the cost of a new NFL stadium.

Meh, if they have money to hand out high school football stadiums the way they do, there's money laying around for this.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

The only thing I hate about ballparks that have retractable roofs is that even for most night games, they close the roof.

 

[SniperHF]

The only thing I hate about ballparks that have retractable roofs is that even for most night games, they close the roof.

This isn't true of all locations, but here they close it at night because it's still really ****ing hot at night. First two months of the season they'll keep it open though.

 

[Bakayoko Ono]

The amount of wealth in NA (pro) sports is absolutely staggering.

 

[Bjorn Le]

The amount of wealth in NA (pro) sports is absolutely staggering.

For big market teams. Poor Oakland still can't get a stadium and the best plan to move to a better location (outside of Oakland) get stymied by the Giants. Tampa is in the same boat. For a big market team, getting a new stadium is more a nuisance than a challenge. Not so much for the small market teams.

 

[Voight]

Both the Rangers and Braves stadiums are perfectly functional and are simply being replaced for logistic reasons.

Braves never really liked Turner Field. It was new, so it was a no-brainer for them to move there but without the 96 games they would likely stayed in the ATL-FUL County Stadium until the early 2000's. Didn't help it was built and designed for the Olympics.

Turner Field is a relatively new facility, being younger than 14 of Major League Baseball's other 29 stadiums, nonetheless there were numerous issues that eventually led the Braves to seek a new ballpark.

According to vice chairman John Schuerholz, Turner Field needs $350 million in renovations—$150 million for structural upkeep and $200 million to improve the fan experience. Braves executive vice president Mike Plant has stated that capital maintenance would be much less at the new stadium. While Turner Field was designed from the ground up with the Braves in mind, Plant said that it requires higher capital maintenance costs because it was value engineered for the 1996 Summer Olympics. This has led to higher capital maintenance costs in the long run. Plant estimates that capital maintenance costs at the new stadium will be no more than $80 million after 30 years – less than half of the $150 million in capital maintenance needed for Turner Field after 17 years.

Braves executives have said growing transportation issues have made it difficult for fans to come to games. Also, Turner Field is currently under-served by about 5,000 parking spaces. Turner Field is 0.75 miles (1.21 km) from the nearest Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) train station. Although MARTA runs a shuttle service on game days, the Braves claim that fans have been unwilling to come to games in recent years due to metro Atlanta's infamous congestion. The Braves also have said that parking around the stadium is inadequate. In addition, Plant has noted the downtown location "doesn't match up with where the majority of our fans come from." Plant said that while the Braves operate Turner Field, they have no control over the commercial development around the stadium. Other baseball stadiums built in recent years have been accompanied by nearby shopping and entertainment.

 

[robert terwilliger]

200 million to improve the fan experience.

adding an overpriced restaurant and putting tomahawks on everything sure is expensive.

 

[Fenway]

Would've been nice to have a stadium in Dallas. Arlington looks like a boring suburb.

New US Census figures released this week indicate Arlington is no longer a suburb.

Arlington, Texas, rejoined the list of the 50 most populous cities, displacing Cleveland.

http://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-81.html

http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk

 

[Fenway]

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/tex...gers-unveil-early-plans-new-arlington-stadium

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

New US Census figures released this week indicate Arlington is no longer a suburb.

It's still a suburb of Dallas. Just like Mesa is still a suburb of Phoenix.

 

[BigMac1212]

What acronym is the roof going to be made from?

 

[BigMac1212]

SkyScraperCity has renderings. Let's see if the links work:

Looks interesting. Your thoughts?

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Hopefully these new parks won't be extreme pitcher's parks like Petco and Target. I don't know if Citi has become more neutral since they moved the fences in a couple of years ago. It used to be a horrible park if you were a huge fan of dingers. That park killed Jason Bay's career (along with aging).

 

[MurrayBannerman]

Climate affects parks a lot more than fence location.

 

[Fenway]

It's still a suburb of Dallas. Just like Mesa is still a suburb of Phoenix.

Or a suburb of Fort Worth

 

[StatesideSensFan]

Shawked-That Braves article you posted is a load of bologna, to put it mildly.

 

[Voight]

Hopefully these new parks won't be extreme pitcher's parks like Petco and Target. I don't know if Citi has become more neutral since they moved the fences in a couple of years ago. It used to be a horrible park if you were a huge fan of dingers. That park killed Jason Bay's career (along with aging).

They'll likely keep it the same.

Year-round warm temperatures, relatively low humidity, short fences and a lack of foul territory have all contributed to make Globe Life Park in Arlington one of baseball's most notoriously hitter-friendly parks since it opened in 1994, when it was known as Ameriquest Field.

A swirling wind lends a hand to fly balls as they near the outfield walls, a wind that would probably result in a bigger offensive explosion were it not blocked by the office building in center field. All these factors make Globe Life Park equally welcoming to hitters from both sides of the plate.

With Texas missing two of its best starting pitchers (Matt Harrison and Derek Holland), along with the addition of players like Shin-Soo Choo and Prince Fielder to the lineup, it's no surprise that offense in Arlington is up in nearly every category so far in 2014.

While some numbers might regress once Harrison and Holland return to the mix, Globe Life Park will remain a place where offenses thrive throughout the season.

 

[Voight]

New US Census figures released this week indicate Arlington is no longer a suburb.



http://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-81.html

http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk

Amazing that it is now bigger than Cleveland. DAL-FW Metro Area just keeps growing.

 

[blueandgoldguy]

Looking at those renders it appears the next evolution with ballparks will be simultaneous building of a district in the immediate area around the facility. The Braves appear to be the first team to go this route with SunTrust Park and the surrounding area. If this proposal is approved, Texas will follow.

Who will be next?

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Looking at those renders it appears the next evolution with ballparks will be simultaneous building of a district in the immediate area around the facility. The Braves appear to be the first team to go this route with SunTrust Park and the surrounding area. If this proposal is approved, Texas will follow.

Who will be next?

It may be the new thing in MLB but it's been happening in MiLB for awhile now. It's been the case here in Durham where the construction of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park was the catalyst for the renovation/repurposing of the American Tobacco Campus, a mixed-use development housed in the buildings that was once the factories of the American Tobacco Company and owned by Capitol Broadcasting, the owners of the Bulls. The factory's buildings had been abandoned for 17 years and downtown had largely been blighted because of it. Now it's a place people go to with a theater, a restaurant, a dedicated event space, an amphitheatre, a YMCA, and a branch of The Arts Institute - it's really one of the things I love about Durham. Great 15-20 minute documentary about it here - http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/14362373/

Other projects I know of that are similar are in Winston-Salem, NC at their park (though they ran into the problem of doing the work during the recession) and in Columbia, SC, which is just in its infancy where its park will be the crown jewel of what will be The Commons at Bull Street which will make use of the now abandoned South Carolina State Hospital campus.

 

[KaylaJ]

This is one of the few cases that I understand wanting a new stadium because of the heat. But why didn't they think of this in 94?

It wasn't cool to do, baseball is meant to be played outside they said. Even after I think they toyed with the idea of adding a roof & ac, but realized the cost was high. since then it's just gotten more and more obvious esp since the rangers need a waiver to play on sunday nights (they were denied some years ago and it was pretty bad). Also, as Sniper noted, even night games can be stuffy when everything absorbs heat.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Braves never really liked Turner Field. It was new, so it was a no-brainer for them to move there but without the 96 games they would likely stayed in the ATL-FUL County Stadium until the early 2000's. Didn't help it was built and designed for the Olympics.

Really, the biggest issue is the location. The city has promised since the Ted was built to clean up the surrounding neighborhoods and construct some retail around the stadium. There were some homes built nearby at the time of the Olympics, but nothing else was done. The city kept pushing it off to the side. Frankly, it's not a neighborhood you need to be in unless it's game time.

In the end, the city was faced with a choice between the Braves and Falcons (the bonds on the GA dome are up next year). The city wanted to work with the Arthur Blank and that was the last straw.

Sorry for the OT.

Looking at those renders it appears the next evolution with ballparks will be simultaneous building of a district in the immediate area around the facility. The Braves appear to be the first team to go this route with SunTrust Park and the surrounding area. If this proposal is approved, Texas will follow.

Who will be next?

It appears the mixed-use idea is the wave of the future. I believe the Cards did it first and I've seen reports that reps with the SF Giants have contacted the Braves for some consulting.

 

[guinness]

For big market teams. Poor Oakland still can't get a stadium and the best plan to move to a better location (outside of Oakland) get stymied by the Giants. Tampa is in the same boat. For a big market team, getting a new stadium is more a nuisance than a challenge. Not so much for the small market teams.

And ironically, if not for the A's, the Giants would probably be in Tampa, but now that the shoe is on the other foot...The Bay area can support two teams, but the Giants just don't want to share more of the pie, it's unfortunate. The A's would probably steal some thunder down in SJ, but MLB is not helping the A's either.

What's galling to me, is that these stadiums are now having shorter and shorter lifespans, or teams moving out.

Phoenix, Atlanta, St. Louis Rams, now the Texas Rangers, but the owners aren't on the hook for most of the cost, but reap most of the reward.