Mets release details of new stadium plans

 

BY NEIL BEST

Newsday Staff Writer

 

April 6, 2006, 6:24 PM EDT

 

The new baseball stadium that will rise in Flushing over the next three years is big business -- hundreds of millions of dollars worth, some contributed by the city and state.

 

Thursday, though, Mets chairman Fred Wilpon reduced the enterprise to a more emotional level, one he and the team hope will resonate with fans when the new park opens in 2009.

 

Wilpon, his voice cracking, described looking at the design and feeling as if he were "walking through the rotunda, 8 or 9 years old, holding my dad's hand and thrilled to be with him one-on-one."

 

The entry rotunda of Wilpon's youth was at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field, where the Dodgers played until 1957.

 

The idea was to incorporate a similar feature into a ballpark that would evoke the past while offering amenities missing from obsolete Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964.

 

Details were revealed at a news conference at Shea that included Gov. George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, other government officials, Mets general manager Omar Minaya, manager Willie Randolph and several players.

 

It was the culmination of an effort years in the making, including a previous plan in 2000 for a 50,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof.

 

That one never got far in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and eventually was scaled back and made more economical; a roof would have added as much as $200 million to the cost.

 

As it is, the stadium is expected to cost from $500 million to $600 million, up from recent estimates. The Mets privately will finance that cost.

 

The city will pay $90 million and the state $75 million for infrastructure upgrades, but the governor and mayor said there would be a net economic benefit. For one thing, the city no longer will pay for the upkeep of city-owned, deteriorating Shea, a cost Bloomberg estimated at "a couple hundred million dollars."

 

"The price is right," Bloomberg said.

 

The new stadium -- which will be named for a corporate sponsor -- will rise in what is now a parking area near the current building.

 

Construction is to begin in June and disrupt parking through 2008.

 

Officials say upgraded service on the No. 7 subway line and the Port Washington branch of the Long Island Rail Road should encourage mass transit use.

 

The stadium, designed by HOK Sport of Kansas City, will hold 45,000 people -- 10,000 fewer than Shea -- including standing room for 2,500 fans. HOK Sport is the same firm which drew up plans for the new Yankee Stadium and has designed Pittsburgh's PNC Park, Baltimore's Camden Yards, and Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia to name a few.

 

The Mets said limiting capacity would both make the building more intimate and increase the urgency to buy tickets for big games.

 

Will fewer seats mean higher prices?

 

"We will have very affordable tickets, and we will have very expensive tickets, as we do now," said David Howard, executive vice president of business operations.

 

There will be angled seats for improved sight lines, and contoured levels to bring fans closer to the field. (Still, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver jokingly worried about getting stuck behind a large-headed patron. "Hopefully we won't have seats behind Mr. Met," he said.)

 

Batters should enjoy having less foul territory; pitchers should like the outfield dimensions, which are a few feet shorter down the lines but deeper in the power alleys.

 

Centerfield will be 408 feet from home plate, slightly closer than the current distance of 410 feet. It will be 335 feet down the left-field line (compared to 338 at Shea Stadium), 379 feet to left-center (compared to 378), 391 feet to right-center (compared to 378), and 330 feet down the rightfield line (compared to 338).

 

Wide concourses that open to the field will allow fans to see the game while buying food or walking to a rest room, of which there will be many. (The number of women's stalls will rise from 217 to 305.)

 

The brick on the exterior will resemble that at Ebbets, another nod to the vision of Wilpon, who was a star at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn and at 16 spent a summer pitching batting practice for the Dodgers.

 

It seems unlikely Shea will engender such nostalgia in the future.

 

Silver suggested a line might form when it is time for it to be razed, and invoked a Red Sox player who made a notorious error there in 1986.

 

"Bill Buckner called and asked if he could take the first crack at demolishing this stadium," Silver said.

 

Another of the new ballpark's intriguing features will be a rightfield porch that hangs into fair territory. Conceivably, a ball hit high enough to reach the second deck in right field could be caught by fans, even if it does not travel the 330 feet it would take to reach the rightfield wall below.

 

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the new stadium a "21st-century field of dreams. ... No doubt about it, it's a grand slam for baseball fans and all New Yorkers."

 

The number of luxury suites will rise from 50 to 58 in the new stadium, which will also feature a state-of-the-art video board and sound system. Parking would be facilitated, officials said, thanks to more points of entry.

 

According to Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, the Mets will lose about 2,400 parking spaces when the construction starts, but he estimated they can get about 2,000 spaces back in areas surrounding the stadium.

 

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Maybe we'll get one one day.

It looks like a clone of the Phillies park.

And yet the obnoxious sound of airplanes taking off will still be heard.

WOW! Pics are amazing man! One day... The announcement hopefully takes place in MIA!!

I really like this park. They are giving up some seats to make room for restaurants and luxury boxes. [shrug] Whatever.

 

Anyway, the park looks kind of retro and has some interesting angles past the infield. That makes it a ton better than the crap can Shea... Supposedly, this is similar to Ebbets Field? I don't see the similarity, but whatever.

Very nice. I hope we get a nice stadium like that someday.

I like Shea Stadium ... airplanes and all

Craig Minervini is going to be pissed.

I hope to make it to Shea before they demolish it. I love stadiums.

I hope to make it to Shea before they demolish it. I love stadiums.

 

Honestly - it's like a college stadium. Don't kill yourself trying to check out the Shea. It will not be missed.

I really like this park. They are giving up some seats to make room for restaurants and luxury boxes. [shrug] Whatever.

 

Anyway, the park looks kind of retro and has some interesting angles past the infield. That makes it a ton better than the crap can Shea... Supposedly, this is similar to Ebbets Field? I don't see the similarity, but whatever.

 

I think the front facade with all the pillars is supposed to be fashioned after Ebbets Field.

 

Very sharp looking. I prefer the retro look to the stupid newfangled spaceship design that was being spread around as one of the Marlins' concepts.

Fred Wilpon was a Dodger fan as a boy. That had tremendous influence on the stadium design, as we now see.

 

I like it. This pays homage to the past National League teams' ballparks in NYC, although more towards an Ebbets homage than to a Polo Grounds homage. It's a way of connecting the past with the future, which is appropiate for one of the most traditional cities in the major leagues. Funny thing is I've been to Shea two times but not for baseball games. The baseball parks in NYC reflect an earlier time.

 

I can't help but to compare this to the new Yankee Stadium, which looks like it's going to happen as well. Yankee Stadium is in a whole other class and the new one is supposed to bring back the design of the old exterior. 2009 can't come soon enough! (I'll have to find a way to sneak in by then...or I might settle for a game at Citizens Bank Park if all else fails )

 

The new Shea Stadium is going to be a pitchers park, which is another good thing. Real ballparks for real players playing real baseball. That's how it should be for everywhere.

I think it looks great. The Ebbets field thing is really slick. And kudos to the Mets for making a pitcher's park. Bandboxes are overrated.

wow...this makes me sick on some many different levels...

 

:confused

And yet the obnoxious sound of airplanes taking off will still be heard.

 

It's not as much of a problem these days, the planes are not supposed to fly over the stadium during gametimes... and they usually don't.

And yet the obnoxious sound of airplanes taking off will still be heard.

 

not much of a problem in the games ive been to there, you really dont notice it

 

but that place is still a sh*thole

very nice.. it reminds me of the rangers ballpark..

hopefully they leave the stench of urine and other various wastes at shea.

The concourse is going to be excellent. No more watching the game on tiny tvs while you're waiting in line for food. Everything facing the field will more less be open so you have a view of the field at all times. I can't wait.

 

And I really like the old Ebbets Field facade they'll be using. It will be nice to finally be able to watch a Mets home game in a nice stadium.

And yet the obnoxious sound of airplanes taking off will still be heard.

 

Just like Petco.

http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Met..._deal/2255.html

 

Mets make a deal

by patrick arden / metro new york

APR 26, 2006

 

MANHATTAN ? An 11th hour deal with the Mets yesterday clears the way for the City Council to approve more than $528 million in tax-exempt financing today for the team?s new ballpark.

 

Queens Council members had threatened to thwart the Mets? plans unless the team came up with a community partnership agreement similar to the one Bronx officials hammered out with the Yankees.

 

?Three weeks ago, when we began this debate, there was nothing on the table,? said Councilman Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, who represents the area around Shea Stadium. ?Today we have a community partnership agreement, and we have commitments from the administration. We?re getting it from both ends.?

 

The pact with the Mets ? negotiated by Monserrate, City Council Queens delegation chair Leroy Comrie and Speaker Christine Quinn ? calls for 25 percent of all construction contracts to be awarded to Queens firms and 25 percent to go to minority- or women-owned firms.

 

?It?s the same for construction jobs, 25 percent for Queens residents and 25 percent for minorities and women,? Monserrate said. ?A pre-apprenticeship program is part of a project labor agreement. And when the stadium is built, Queens residents will make up 25 percent of the workforce.?

 

The Mets will also fund the ?beautification? of Roosevelt Avenue between 114th and 126th streets and Northern Boulevard between 114th Street and Willets Point Boulevard. The plan calls for new lighting, sidewalks, trees and trashcans.

 

In a letter to Comrie, deputy mayor Daniel Doctoroff promised the city will work on traffic mitigation, road repair and landscaping, as well as provide shuttle bus service from the Long Island Rail Road. The city will also ask the MTA to fund the rehabilitation of the Willets Point LIRR station and the Roosevelt Avenue El. The Parks Dept. will hire four new officers in June and expand parking lots in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The city will start a Business Improvement District on Junction Boulevard and spend $50 million to replace the Roosevelt Avenue Bridge in 2009.

 

The final provision calls for the Mets to set aside 25 percent of its charitable giving for Queens, including local scholarships, senior citizen programs and Little League and high school teams. ?The Mets claims they gave $2 million last year,? Monserrate said. ?If you do the math, that?s $500,000 a year. If their donations go up in the future, that could go higher. We want them to be good neighbor.?

 

 

Waiting on the IRS

 

? Today the City Council is also expected to approve $866 million in tax-exempt bonds for a new Yankee Stadium. The Independent Budget Office concluded the financing schemes for both stadiums depend on ?an aggressive interpretation? of the law. The city has asked the IRS to rule on the plans. In a letter yesterday, Good Jobs New York asked Finance Committee Chair David Weprin, D-Queens, to postpone the vote.

I'm not impressed. All of the new stadiums are starting to look the same.

 

I was watching a Cardinals home game the other night on TV and it took me awhile to realize that they had a new stadium. I'm not saying it looks like the old Busch but that it didn't look like anything new or unique.

 

 

The reviews on the ballpark have not been great.

The Mets can get arrangements made for a New stadium...Our poor Marlins can't secure funding for our first staduim and I blame Huizenga

I'm not impressed. All of the new stadiums are starting to look the same.

 

I was watching a Cardinals home game the other night on TV and it took me awhile to realize that they had a new stadium. I'm not saying it looks like the old Busch but that it didn't look like anything new or unique.

 

 

The reviews on the ballpark have not been great.

The park isn't even completely finished yet.

The park in Saint Louis now continues to bring confusion to me between the Phils and Cards. They both wear red uniforms, both play in similar stadiums (again), and they are both old NL teams.