Pros & Cons - New Yankee Stadium and 70's renovation

[Swoboda4]

If anything I would say the exterior is the aspect least like the original. Yes the lower walls are the same, but when you drive by on the Major Deegan all you see poking above the trees is that huge upper deck, which, I'll be honest, looks from the outside like it could be the upper deck at three rivers, busch II, any one of those. The upper deck addition is almost double the height of the original walls, and, at least on the exterior, is all new, circa mid-70s. I'm not going to rehash my opinions about the interior, but I think the exterior presents the weakest case that the stadium is the same. Look at the picture. Literally everything you can see except for the letters is new.

Great point. I agree with Gecko when he says that YS was torn down in 1973. It was. My points about restoring the current place come from a landmarks preservation/architectural argument, which are honestly just intellectual gymnastics. Not gonna happen, of course. Actually, from an architectural perspective, Shea Stadium is a far more significant specimen than the current YS. Shea could be restored to its original appearance in a matter of months, if not weeks. Shea also would win huge points for its role in non-baseball related events, and its place in architectural development of the sports facility as multi-purposed. Current YS is the (admittedly nice) result of a simple remedial maintenance job. It has very little to mark it as architecturally significant beyond its representation of an early 1970's aesthetic. Its original Osborne detailing was removed. This is ultimately why YS, in its current form, could not qualify as an architectural landmark. Its original builders would not recognize it. Shea could actually pass the test. Ironic.

[six4three]

I doubt whether even 10% of "Red Sox Nation" has ever been to Fenway, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was far less outcry the next time the issue is raised, as I'm sure it will be. A little side-track here: Having lived in Wisconsin, I've come to have a deep appreciation for the Packers organization and the way it is owned by a community of over 117,000 shareholders, many of them season ticket-holders. In the long run, this is the only type of ownership that is going to be sympathetic to keeping old, beloved stadiums around... because as long as the fans want it, the stadium stays. If the team was privately owned, Lambeau field would have been replaced with some generic HOK piece of crap with about 5 decks and 100s of luxury suites and martini lounges years ago.

As a Packers stockholder, I actively campaigned for renovating Lambeau Field. I hope they never actually sell the naming rights (which, fortunately, seems remote).

As a New Yorker and lifelong Yankee fan, I'd rather they renovate Yankee Stadium and build the new one on the same spot. But that fight has been lost. I can either whinge about the second and final demolition of the old park or enjoy the new stadium for what it is and what it represents for the team.

I have chosen the latter, and will never look back.

[GordonGecko]

...If the team was privately owned, Lambeau field would have been replaced with some generic HOK piece of crap with about 5 decks and 100s of luxury suites and martini lounges years ago.

I'd personally like to see some other big firms jump into the sport stadium design business. It's annoying how every new construction is always HOK, I want to see some fresh ideas - it's like team owners are scared to go against the trend

[MarcianoNY]

Well, I didn't realize this until now but two major facilities in Wisconsin were designed by HKS: Miller Park and the Lambeau Field renovations; both of which look great in my opinion.

[Yoda]

Lambeau is the nicest place ever.

I had the ability to catch a playoff game a couple of years ago but didn't have $150 laying around at that time.



I wish every team was ran the way the packers are ran.




Screw the Bears.

[YankeeStadium1923]

If anything I would say the exterior is the aspect least like the original. Yes the lower walls are the same, but when you drive by on the Major Deegan all you see poking above the trees is that huge upper deck, which, I'll be honest, looks from the outside like it could be the upper deck at three rivers, busch II, any one of those. The upper deck addition is almost double the height of the original walls, and, at least on the exterior, is all new, circa mid-70s. I'm not going to rehash my opinions about the interior, but I think the exterior presents the weakest case that the stadium is the same. Look at the picture. Literally everything you can see except for the letters is new.

Your all hopeless......Who the hell cares what the Stadium looks like from the Major Deegan. I don't watch the game from The Major Deegan! When I walk along Yankee Stadium at street level it's the same facade that throngs of fans have seen since 1923.
If I cared to prove a point...Which I already mentioned your hopeless....Very little of the lower exterior wall would be visible from the Major Deegan or from Harlem along the Harlem River of the Pre-Renovated Stadium....

And by the way the additions to the original Stadium are not double the height and furthermore when you are walking around the corridors of the Renovated Upper deck you are actually walking on the original lower roof of Old Yankee Stadium.

And next time you go to the REAL Yankee Stadium....and thats if you go to games or even live in the State.....Walk the ORIGINAL ramps of the Stadium and you will see flat concrete painted walls....Where you see cinder blocks thats where old windows or vents were located within the ORIGINAL walls. Really it's not that hard to see it's the original structure....Seriously!

[YankeeStadium1923]

So I hear that they're going to tear down Yankee Stadium.

So what?

They've already torn down Comiskey Park, Ebbetts Field, Polo Grounds, and several others. They've also torn down classic arenas such as the Boston Garden, Montreal Forum, and Chicago Stadium. Soldier Field was gutted and replaced with something more modern. So tearing down Yankee Stadium is just another chapter in the cycle of sports life. And what are the Yankees and their fans getting? A better stadium in return.

By the way, didn't the Red Sox already try to move out of Fenway? They wanted to leave that dump and build a better ballpark. And they'd already be playing in one now if the people in the local neighborhood weren't such babies. Eventually the Red Sox will move out of Fenway, and I can't wait to hear all the whining. Mike and the Mad Dog even trashed the place, and they're from New York.

Mike and the Mad Dog have dreams of hosting there talkshow live from the new Yankee Stadium....You see they have something to gain by the Yankees moving in to a New Stadium. Besides your only half right. Mad Dog has said repeatedly that the Yankees don't need a new Stadium.....And if they protested the new Stadium YES would thrown there radio show off the air. Anyway Who cares what they think? If you listen to there show you would know they don't care what there listeners think...They are always right and never listen to the fans opinions....Always cutting you from the air.

[YankeeStadium1923]

Great point. I agree with Gecko when he says that YS was torn down in 1973. It was. My points about restoring the current place come from a landmarks preservation/architectural argument, which are honestly just intellectual gymnastics. Not gonna happen, of course. Actually, from an architectural perspective, Shea Stadium is a far more significant specimen than the current YS. Shea could be restored to its original appearance in a matter of months, if not weeks. Shea also would win huge points for its role in non-baseball related events, and its place in architectural development of the sports facility as multi-purposed. Current YS is the (admittedly nice) result of a simple remedial maintenance job. It has very little to mark it as architecturally significant beyond its representation of an early 1970's aesthetic. Its original Osborne detailing was removed. This is ultimately why YS, in its current form, could not qualify as an architectural landmark. Its original builders would not recognize it. Shea could actually pass the test. Ironic.

"Its original Osborne detailing was removed. This is ultimately why YS, in its current form, could not qualify as an architectural landmark."

Still spreading lies! Try spreading facts.....Original Osborne detailing enclosed.
Elect MR. Met to the Hall of Fame!

A few years ago the City determined that Yankee Stadium was drastically changed and could not be considered for Landmark status. This was orchestrated because the New Yankee Stadium was in it's planning stages and the land that occupies the current Yankee Stadium is needed to comply with the Community Benefits agreement to replace parkland lost to build the New Stadium.

Any building in NYC that is 30 years or older can qualify for Landmark status....
So the renovated Yankee Stadium was eligible for Landmark status on April 15, 2006.
So if NYC does not recognise Yankee Stadium a landmark because the original building was renovated......Why wasn't the renovated version condsidered eligible?

[YankeeStadium1923]

There's really no point to your pictures, so they left some exterior that look similar, who gives a flying turd. If you look at the current exterior what really sticks out are those 3 70's Chic rounded glass & concrete buildings which are butt ugly. More importantly, the interior is utterly different, no more death valley, no more upper deck frieze, etc..

"There's really no point to your pictures, so they left some exterior that look similar"

It should look similiar if it's the Original Exterior!

[curb my enthusiasm]

Mike and the Mad Dog have dreams of hosting there talkshow live from the new Yankee Stadium....You see they have something to gain by the Yankees moving in to a New Stadium. Besides your only half right. Mad Dog has said repeatedly that the Yankees don't need a new Stadium.....And if they protested the new Stadium YES would thrown there radio show off the air. Anyway Who cares what they think? If you listen to there show you would know they don't care what there listeners think...They are always right and never listen to the fans opinions....Always cutting you from the air.

After Mad Dog said that the Yankees didn't need a new stadium, Francesa said that he was crazy. Going by Dog's logic, you could say that nobody needed a new ballpark.

I've been to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. After that, I realized just how overrated Yankee Stadium was. CBP has beautiful wide open concourses, more food options, more bathrooms, better parking, a great bar/restaurant to eat in before the game, and better sightlines in the majority of seats. Not to mention that it's gorgeous inside. Yankee Stadium is just a boring sea of blue on the inside.

[YankeeStadium1923]

After Mad Dog said that the Yankees didn't need a new stadium, Francesa said that he was crazy. Going by Dog's logic, you could say that nobody needed a new ballpark.

I've been to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. After that, I realized just how overrated Yankee Stadium was. CBP has beautiful wide open concourses, more food options, more bathrooms, better parking, a great bar/restaurant to eat in before the game, and better sightlines in the majority of seats. Not to mention that it's gorgeous inside. Yankee Stadium is just a boring sea of blue on the inside.

When I started listening to Mike and the Mad Dog along time ago I liked Francesa better....Over the years I have found Francesa's ego to be unbearable. I prfer Michael Kay. He has a great show on ESPN and allows his listeners to expressthere opinions.

Yankee Stadium could have been expanded out creating wider concourses, more food options, more bathrooms, etc. However The Yankees weren't willing to sacrifice 2 years of profits to preserve history.

In fact, HOK was asked if Yankee Stadium could be renovated....There responce was The Yankees never asked us for a renovation plan.

[curb my enthusiasm]

When I started listening to Mike and the Mad Dog along time ago I liked Francesa better....Over the years I have found Francesa's ego to be unbearable. I prfer Michael Kay. He has a great show on ESPN and allows his listeners to expressthere opinions.

Yankee Stadium could have been expanded out creating wider concourses, more food options, more bathrooms, etc. However The Yankees weren't willing to sacrifice 2 years of profits to preserve history.

In fact, HOK was asked if Yankee Stadium could be renovated....There responce was The Yankees never asked us for a renovation plan.

I agree that Michael Kay has a good show, and I like him better than Mike & the Mad Dog now. However, there's a guy named Jason Page on ESPN Radio 1410 in Connecticut who's on at the same time as Kay now, and I listen to him. Page talks a lot of Yankees, but also talks a lot about UConn basketball and football too. Since I'm a fan of all of those teams, I prefer to listen to Page now. Not to mention that 1410 comes in great in my car where I live, and I can't get 1050 at all. So I can only hear Kay on my computer.

I also agree that Yankee Stadium could have been altered to include wider concourses, more concessions, etc. But the Yankees were probably thinking, why go through a massive renovation for a second time, while the original foundation is over 80 years old? It was probably less expensive just to build a new ballpark, so I can understand their point of view.

Also, some people don't understand that you can't have an original copper frieze again. The price of copper is now so cost-prohibitive that it makes it impossible

[yankees82]

Yankee Stadium has no more room for concessions. The concourses are cramped and narrow. I don't see how they can widen the concourses. They are confined to the space within the 'original' outer walls.

[six4three]

Yeah, I don't think they could have without knocking out the outer walls. Which was what Ferrer's 97 plan advocated, adding a second concourse on to the existing outer walls, much like the Great Hall on New Yankee Stadium.

[YankeeStadium1923]

Yankee Stadium has no more room for concessions. The concourses are cramped and narrow. I don't see how they can widen the concourses. They are confined to the space within the 'original' outer walls.

The Yankees could have built an exact replica around the existing exterior wall and connected the 2 structures with walkways through the existing Stadium vents.

The old Exterior wall would now be an Interior wall....