Historic Fields: Build New or Renovate?

Stadiums come and go in the sports business. Teams change venues constantly looking for a better deal to save their bottom line. I've asked myself this question countless times. Is it better to tear down just to build new or to renovate? It seems the sports world is split on this decision. With historic parks like Yankees Stadium and Shea Stadium seeing their last season this brings to mind past field of dreams that have been changed to accommodate modern crowds.

In the NFL, Jerry Jones is ready to get started in his brand new, state of the art Cowboys Stadium to replace beloved Texas Stadium. According to the Dallas Cowboys website, their New Stadium will play host to Super Bowl XLV in 2011. They look to seat about 80,000 raging fans but can expand to up to 100,000 maniacs for major events like the above mentioned Super Bowl. Like Texas Stadium there is a retractable roof with huge arches that span the length of the stadium. Another cool feature is the open-air end zone plazas, looks like some NASA would use. I'm not sure why more Domes don't add this nice feature, a center-hung video board. Well I'm not really a fan of taking out the old to build new but after looking at the plans for this stadium myself, I must say that it's very impressive.

The Green Bay Packers' Lambeau Field was renovated in 2003 This project cost an astounding $295 million to basically update the facilities, adding more premium seats and increasing more luxury suites. This brought seating capacity to 72,928. I believe that Lambeau Field was done right preserving the seating bowl and keeping the natural grass playing field known as the "Frozen Tundra." Definitely the right choice in my opinion.





Chicago Bears' Soldier Field was another NFL renovation project. Originally the field was built to seat roughly 74,000 fans. Plans to renovate were brought fourth in 2001 and they created a beautiful Greek style arena with columns which make for a very distinguished appearance. The only problem I have the new stadium bowl rises above and hangs over the columns and doesn't flow in my opinion. This was the second rebuild in team history with opened back up in 2003. On a good note, a 10 member federal advisory committee unanimously recommended that Soldier Field be listed as a Landmark on September 23, 2004. Well, I feel the Greek design was great but was cheapened by the stadium bowl that doesn't look like it's apart of the overall design.

What can I say about Yankees Stadium? There is so much history in this stadium that tearing it down is a disgrace. Ironically this is the first year they haven't made the playoffs in 14 years. I like the look of the new stadium and they did try to keep the historic feel but let's face it, the prestige is gone. Eighty Five years was a lot of history to accumulate and the new stadium has big shoes to fill. At least the new stadium is right across the street from the old one.





Another NY iconic park goes down as the Mets take down Shea Stadium (constructed in 1964) and build there new stadium, Citi Field which is located adjacent to each other. This venue will host 45,000 screaming New Yorkers. iti Field cost $850 million.





As of right now, Citi Field will Host the 2013 MLB All-Star Game. The Mets will hold their first regular season home game April 13, 2009 verses the San Diego Padres.






Let's all pray that the Sports Gods to not intend to take, what I feel is beyond historic, Wrigley Field. As a little boy growing up in western NC, I can remember watching the Cubs play ball on TV on WGN. This is what ball parks should be, the atmosphere is prime and ready to play ball. This field was constructed for a bargain of $250,000 which now days that not much but back then it was state of the art. This field originally opened it's doors in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales. Whales in Chicago? Then they decided to be the home of the NFL Chicago Bears from 1921-1970. In 1926 the stadium was renamed for then Cubs team owner and chewing gum wizard William Wrigley Jr., there you get Wrigley Field.

Bottom line, I love old historic parks and the way they feel. This conflicts with my business side and wanting something state of the art for viewers to enjoy. I'm definitely in favor of renovating over tearing down to at least keep some of the historic feel with the comforts of new.