Three cheers for the Tiger Stadium FanClub. They have waged a great effort to preserve our landmark at Michigan and Trumbull. As plans for the new stadium become more definite, it is important to shift the momentum generated by the Fan Club's efforts to a new focus: plans for the new stadium. From an urban design and planning stance, the current plans for the stadium are poor at best. The latest methods in stadium design call for three key components:

1. building little on-site parking,
2. ensconcing the structures into the urban fabric with as little disturbance as possible, and
3. incorporating the ideals of dense urban construction.

The Detroit design does little to address these issues. In the 1950s and 1960s, new stadiums were surrounded by parking for visitor convenience, but it was soon realized that there was little economic benefit to the adjacent businesses and the cities themselves. A new approach— developed during the last ten years—models the Wrigley and Fenway ballparks which build off of their surrounding neighborhoods for services (including parking). These stadiums encourage the visitor to pass through the city on foot from satellite parking locations, thus generating a greater opportunity for valuable economic spin-offs. In contrast, a number of problems stem from Detroit's poor urban planning:

Issue #1: Lack of an entertainment district. The buildings along the west side of Park Avenue and the United Artist Theater building (all of which were just listed on the State Register of Historic Places) would make great locations for bars and restaurants to support the stadium in a setting that really feels like a city. A strong entertainment district could develop from this core of shops and residences, creating a destination point for north downtown all year long. The current plan for Detroit, however, instead calls for their demolition.

Issue #2: Parking hinders rather than helps area business. The site of the demolished Park Avenue buildings are to be replaced with a sea of parking. Placing parking lots in these locations will prevent the creation of an urbanly dense destination immediately adjacent to the stadium.

Issue #3: Stadium location. The new Tiger Stadium is currently sited at the farthest point possible away from downtown. All of these issues can be easily addressed by employing sound urban design and planning principles. By moving the stadium to the southeast and relocating the parking to the area between the stadium and the I-75 freeway, all of these issues could begin to be addressed while still providing the Tiger organization with all of the amentities included in their initial proposal. This is the largest construction project in downtown since the completion of the Renaissance Center. And with the addition of the Lion's stadium as well as possible casinos, attention to high quality urban development is more important than ever. Cityscape Detroit members must work to ensure that these new developments generate economic growth and are not urbanistic failures like the Renaissance Center project.