New A's Ballpark

[Elvis]

Quite a fresh, intimate and innovative design imho! I love the close-to-the-field cantilevered second deck and cantilevered roof...the overhanging decks in center field...the small capacity...the pyramid bleachers...the exterior...I like!

Thank God not another retro-clone-"cookie-cutter" design.

[Elvis]

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[Elvis]

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[Bluesteve32]

I just honestly hope it get built. The A's have been rather successful since their move from KC, but the fan support is less that it ought to be, IMHO. This club deserves a great baseball only facility, and I hope the fans show their support so the team will stay in Oakland for generations.

[efin98]

Thank God not another retro-clone-"cookie-cutter" design.

Kind of an oxymoron there You can't have a cookie-cutter and retro-clone. Either or, not both

And it is another retro clone, but it's not another cookie-cutter. It's decent retro clone at that(probably the last for a while as well.

[Elvis]

Kind of an oxymoron there You can't have a cookie-cutter and retro-clone. Either or, not both

And it is another retro clone, but it's not another cookie-cutter. It's decent retro clone at that(probably the last for a while as well.

Cookie-cutters don't have to be round. Jacobs and Coors were reversed-Camden cookie cutters, while Miller, Turner, Safeco and Enron Cookie-cut (cloned) Camden's exterior.

This design is too unique in too many ways to be in that catagory.

[BoofBonser26]

Cookie-cutters don't have to be round. Jacobs and Coors were reversed-Camden cookie cutters, while Miller, Turner, Safeco and Enron Cookie-cut (cloned) Camden's exterior.

This design is too unique in too many ways to be in that catagory.

Whatever it is, it's cool, as only a good ballpark can be. I hope it's built.

:gt

[efin98]

Cookie-cutters don't have to be round. Jacobs and Coors were reversed-Camden cookie cutters, while Miller, Turner, Safeco and Enron Cookie-cut (cloned) Camden's exterior.

This design is too unique in too many ways to be in that catagory.

To me there is a large distinction. The cookie-cutters are the dual use concrete bowls like Shea, RFK, McAffee, and Busch that look like they were cut from the same mold and hard to tell one from the other without knowing who was playing there while the retro clones are the feaux brick and steel structures built to look they were decades old like Jacobs, Coors, and Oriole Park that copy the same deck concept but changed the outfield to their own needs. The semi-domes are another category all together...similar concepts but different designs in each(fan, clam shell, telescope for example)

The new A's park though looks like it's got the best of all of the new parks all in one with the huge "A" shaped seats in the left/center area as it's signature(yep, it's supposed to be an "A" ).

[Chisox73]

It's intersting to see how those CF bleacher seats just hang out over the warning track,a la Tiger Stadium.

[Zito75]

Thanks for posting this story, Elvis...

I've been out of town the past few days.

The A's ownership & the city still has lots of work to do to get this project off the ground. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[Bluesteve32]

My kids thought these pics of the proposed park was "cool," so I guess you have their endorsement as well

Like I have said, this park is needed and i hope it gets done, in Oakland. It would be apity to see this park built in Portland or elsewhere, I'd assume to keep this team in Oakland or the East Bay. The Oakland A's have too much history to be moved again.

[efin98]

Thanks for posting this story, Elvis...

I've been out of town the past few days.

The A's ownership & the city still has lots of work to do to get this project off the ground. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Would be great for your team to have something of their own for the first time since 1938!

[Swingin'A's]

From the Oakland Tribune (Aug 17):

http://www.insidebayarea.com/searchresults/ci_2948510


Wolff's vision of ballpark raises questions

Lewis Wolff's vision of a new baseball park for his Oakland A's consists of more than a stadium.
If the team's new owner has his way, industrial and commercial property north of the Coliseum, along the Nimitz Freeway and San Leandro Street, between 66th Avenue on the south and High Street on the north, will be transformed into a new 35,000-seat stadium, a 48-acre village with outlet-style stores and a plaza, and 63 acres of residential units, all served by a new BART station.

The big questions are: Can all the disparate parts be pulled together to turn it into reality? And can it be done without dipping into taxpayers' pockets?

Wolff's idea is intriguing, but the details around which the corner of 66th and San Leandro would be transformed into a ballpark are what will make or break the deal.

Since taxpayers still owe $182.3 million for the pact that brought the Raiders back to Oakland, tolerance of dipping into public coffers for another sports franchise is somewhere between infinitesimal and nil.

The good news at the unveiling of Wolff's vision were indications that he wouldn't ask for a bond issue or dip into the public pocketbook to pay for it. Instead, he outlined a "mixed-use" development that would transform "an older area" and "help pay for the facility."

Instead of public money, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority was asked to help expedite the project through the use of entitlements, tax incentives and negotiations with 30 or so owners of just over 100 acres.

"There are things you can waive, there are things that we can pay back," Wolff said of their possible contribution to the project, for which he would like to see a plan by opening day of the 2006 baseball season.

Wolff says his mixed-use approach, development and sale of adjacent property would help pay for the project, including between $300 million and $400 million for the stadium. Who will pay $40 million for a BART station between its Fruitvale-Coliseum stops is one of those knotty details. Ultimately, the project also will need public and corporate support through season tickets and the use of suites and other amenities that could make for a cozy Major League atmosphere.

The project could do several things:

-Create a baseball-only home for the A's, perennial pennant contenders whose home field lost much of its charm when the Raiders erected view-blocking seats in the outfield that fans dubbed "Mount Davis" after the football team's owner.

-Minimize what the city, county and taxpayers put up to build a new stadium.

-Transform an aging industrial area — including an old drive-in theater now operated as a flea market — into an upscale destination with baseball, shops, homes and a community atmosphere. There may be some contamination issues on parts of the property now populated by metal works, potteries, warehouses and other industrial businesses, but Wolff's idea is akin to efforts that transformed older neighborhoods into lively urban areas in Denver, Baltimore and San Francisco.

-Take advantage of existing amenities, such as parking at the Coliseum.

-Keep the A's in Oakland by giving them a cozy, modern ballpark that is about the right size for the market.

Still, there are a multitude of questions: How will it affect the High Street interchange, a major freeway entrance and exit for thousands of Oakland and Alameda residents? How will residential areas be screened off from the noise that comes with being next to a major freeway?

A big barrier is persuading current owners of the land to sell it for what Wolff calls "fair market prices." He vowed not to use eminent domain, but a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling makes it part of the municipal tool kit with which to convince owners to sell.

Given the few details unfurled so far, Wolff's vision seems promising. It could be an asset to the team and the city. It's time to wrestle with the details.

[Paulmcall]

Well that is unique!
Never seen anything like that.

[Chisox73]

I'm also digging that pool on top of the building in left field.That looks real cool.