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The White Elephant Stadium Thread


raysox

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12 hours ago, ninersdd said:

Phoenix's Trotting Park, where it's been abandoned for 50 years, but is still up.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Trotting_Park

 

 

 

Gahhh, this is what I was gonna post. That place looks flat out CREEPY from the 10. 

 

There's STILL the remnants of an attempted 50,000+ seat ball park Sacramento tried to build to lure the Raiders and Athletics back in the late 80s/early 90s just north of the old Arco Arena. 

 

 https://www.google.com/amp/sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/11/06/field-of-dashed-dreams-how-sacramento-tried-to-lure-the-raiders-and-athletics-to-town/amp/

 

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On 11/19/2012 at 7:23 PM, oldschoolvikings said:
She’s still half convinced “Chris Creamer” is a porn site.)
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16 hours ago, ChicagoOakland said:

That story about Homestead is actually really depressing and unfortunate. The city did everything right, and yet Mother Nature couldn't resist inflicting its wrath on them. Sad.

Along those lines, the stadiums in Tucson got screwed over when every team training in Arizona decided to move in and around Phoenix.

Thankfully the U of Arizona baseball team decided to take over Hi Corbett Field, but the Tucson Electric Park wasn't so lucky.
 04e2ff_68a3be6304604f66a1fcbb3a2b920865.

FC Tucson, the Tucson Saguaros, and spring training for the NY Red Bulls all use Kino (the former TEP). I don't imagine it qualifies as a White Elephant.

 

I do agree that it deserves a better fate than it received, though. 

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Olympic venues tend to be the absolute most wasteful expenses imaginable. Most countries/cities have zero use for 90% of those venues after the games are over (even if they're reduced in size).

 

America actually has an advantage over other countries on that issue - because we have well-develop intercollegiate athletic programs, Olympic venues in the US can often be reduced in size and used permanently by local D-I athletic programs. Both LA and Atlanta found permanent uses for many of their venues at the college level (I know UCLA, USC, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State all use some former Olympic venues). Same goes for re-purposing Olympic Villages into college dorms. Obviously most countries don't have that ability though.

 

I'm increasingly of the opinion that it would make more sense for the Olympics to be rotated around a few select cities globally. LA, London, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, etc., all have the infrastructure (at this point) to host games. Find one or two host cities in every region of the world, and rotate them around so that each city hosts once every 20 years or so (and can use the venues for Olympic training and other special events in the meantime). The notion of having a different city spend billions of dollars on useless infrastructure every four years, most of which will never be used again, is absurd. Especially when it's developing countries with massive government debt and loads of poverty trying to show off (Brazil, Qatar, etc).

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Knights Stadium, home of the Charlotte Knights from 1990-2013. The last game was played on September 2, 2013 and was demolished in March-April 2015. I took these photos in May 2014 - I kinda regret not taking more, but despite the front gate being wide open, I'm sure I was trespassing.

 

As you can see, the stadium didn't have much character and was located in suburban Fort Mill, SC surrounded mostly by an industrial park and empty space. It was built to be expandable to MLB standards should Charlotte ever get an MLB team - which was a "serious" possibility in the early '90s. By the mid-2000s, it was clear this wasn't going to happen any time soon, and the Knights were stuck in this bland behemoth in the middle of nowhere. With downtown parks being en vogue, it was time to move. I think women's fashion retailer Cato is building a warehouse where the stadium used to be - I went back last summer and the only recognizable remnants of the stadium were the large hills behind the backstop/first/third baselines.

2014-05-21 15.15.43.jpg

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1 hour ago, raysox said:

Plant City Stadium
Reds Spring Training home until 1999, there was a USL Pro team based in "Tampa" that played there. 

 

 

Similar situation is happening in Melbourne, Florida at Space Coast Stadium.

 

The former home of spring training for the Marlins, Expos, and Nationals is being converted to a larger sports complex for tournaments and such operated by the USSSA.  Photo #2 shows a good layout.  Existing facilities are the stadium on the far left and the quad on the far right.  The fields in between are all new and seen in image #1 below.  All fields will also be refitted with artificial surfaces.

 

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Fields.jpg

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The Atlantic League has seen quite a few teams fold over its 20 year existence, leaving relatively new white elephants in their wake (usually in struggling post-industrial cities):

 

The Sandcastle (aka Bernie Robbins Stadium) in Atlantic City, NJ; in service 1998-2009, vacant since 2009 (and virtually unusable at this point; it would take far too great an investment to rehabilitate, and no professional league in interested in returning to AC):

 

photo.jpg

 

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS06DJse0o8UUuYX_LSO2y

 

Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, 1999-2015, Newark, NJ (scheduled to be demolished in favor of a housing development):

 

newark-bears-stadium-sold-to-developer-3

 

Campbell's Field, 2001-2015, Camden, NJ (still trying to find a ballclub, which is becoming increasingly unlikely; affiliated baseball is virtually impossible since the Phillies have territorial rights to Camden County... there was talk about having Rutgers University-Camden's team play here, though I don't think that went anywhere, while the Atlantic League returning would be a remote possibility):

 

635768877339089082-Riversharks-3.jpg

 

At its outset, the Atlantic League sought to place ballclubs in post-industrial midsize cities that were trying to revitalize their downtown areas. Bridgeport, Newark, Atlantic City, Camden, Newburgh, and Lehigh Valley (which never got off the ground) were all examples. All of those teams except for Bridgeport have since shut down operations, and Bridgeport is hanging on by a thread (with ongoing talks of redeveloping their ballpark into a concert venue after this season). It's a terrible shame that these struggling cities invested millions of dollars into building ballparks downtown as part of revitalization efforts, and are now saddled with white elephants. I'm really hoping that my old hometown of Bridgeport avoids a similar fate - it is a minor miracle that the Bluefish haven't shut down or moved out of town yet, given over a decade of rumors that they would.

 

The Atlantic League has since moved on to more profitable suburban and exurban markets, like Lancaster and York, PA, Southern Maryland, Sugar Land, TX, etc. Other than Bridgeport, the only remaining Atlantic League markets from the early 2000s are Long Island and Somerset, which both fit that suburban model.

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3 hours ago, kroywen said:

Olympic venues tend to be the absolute most wasteful expenses imaginable. Most countries/cities have zero use for 90% of those venues after the games are over (even if they're reduced in size).

 

America actually has an advantage over other countries on that issue - because we have well-develop intercollegiate athletic programs, Olympic venues in the US can often be reduced in size and used permanently by local D-I athletic programs. Both LA and Atlanta found permanent uses for many of their venues at the college level (I know UCLA, USC, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State all use some former Olympic venues). Same goes for re-purposing Olympic Villages into college dorms. Obviously most countries don't have that ability though.

 

I'm increasingly of the opinion that it would make more sense for the Olympics to be rotated around a few select cities globally. LA, London, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, etc., all have the infrastructure (at this point) to host games. Find one or two host cities in every region of the world, and rotate them around so that each city hosts once every 20 years or so (and can use the venues for Olympic training and other special events in the meantime). The notion of having a different city spend billions of dollars on useless infrastructure every four years, most of which will never be used again, is absurd. Especially when it's developing countries with massive government debt and loads of poverty trying to show off (Brazil, Qatar, etc).

UCLA did not inherit a venue from 1984 as only Pauley Pavilion was used on campus and it really didn't receive and upgrage.  USC received the pool, athlete's village. For Atlanta, while Georgia Tech and Georgia State inherited facilities and upgrades, upgrades occurred at  HBCUs like Morehouse, Clark-Atlanta, and Morris Brown College   Herndon Stadium at Morris Brown is now abandoned. 

 

Some bid cities build the athletics stadium but never got the Games and the local soccer teams don't need the venue unless their own is under some type of renovation or for a UEFA event.

Seville (bid for 2004 which went to Athens):

La%20Cartuja090305a_zps1hprzozb.jpg

 

Istanbul (who in the 90's used to have a Constitutional amendment to bid):

istanbul_ataturk1_zpsubugzp3k.jpg

 

The venues from both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups are severely underused new stadiums, especially since Durban and Cape Town rugby clubs remained in the existing stadiums which were next door to the new ones. 

 

The newer F1 tracks also have big trouble breaking even.  The tracks in Korea, India, Mocsow, and Istanbul host part of their contract, but cannot generate the revenues to stay in business for the duration. 

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On 6/28/2017 at 10:33 AM, BeerGuyJordan said:

FC Tucson, the Tucson Saguaros, and spring training for the NY Red Bulls all use Kino (the former TEP). I don't imagine it qualifies as a White Elephant.

 

I do agree that it deserves a better fate than it received, though. 

I've actually seen a couple games here. Both the Tucson Padres and an El Paso Chihuahuas game that was hosted there before their stadium was completed.

 

It's a good venue. It's nice. Clean lines. Any game that starts during daylight would be horrible as there is little in way of possible shade. But, it's got tons of parking, plenty of seating, spaceous, etc. But, it sits right next to I-10 beyond the right field and the never-ending parking lot. Has very little character otherwise. Though, really, where in Tucson would be the best place for a ballpark? It's a city built from sprawl.

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The former home of my Alma Mater, the Rubber Bowl, has been empty since 2008. I attended games there during my first two years of college. It was so bad even then that they had to tarp off large sections. The Men's bathrooms had large troughs and one toilet in the corner with no stall. It's sad to see it in this shape, but the new stadium is such an improvement and is actually located on campus.

 

It hosted some huge concerts in the 70s and 80s, the Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath, Tom Petty. Now it's just a huge eyesore, especially with the soap box derby track being right next door. Every year it seems like investors have big plans for it but never follow through. Most recently it would have been used for the new USFL. 

 

akron11n-14-web.jpg

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akron11n-8-web.jpg

 

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Pretty much, 

IMG_9216.JPG

But seriously a lot of Olympic stadiums are really sad as they are forgotten as the expense is too much to keep it up, and Yugoslavia's olympics are the saddest heres the bobsled track and opening stadium

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Excellent!

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2 hours ago, VDizzle12 said:

The former home of my Alma Mater, the Rubber Bowl, has been empty since 2008. I attended games there during my first two years of college. It was so bad even then that they had to tarp off large sections. The Men's bathrooms had large troughs and one toilet in the corner with no stall. It's sad to see it in this shape, but the new stadium is such an improvement and is actually located on campus.

 

It hosted some huge concerts in the 70s and 80s, the Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath, Tom Petty. Now it's just a huge eyesore, especially with the soap box derby track being right next door. Every year it seems like investors have big plans for it but never follow through. Most recently it would have been used for the new USFL. 

 

akron11n-14-web.jpg

akron11n-11-web.jpg

akron11n-8-web.jpg

 

 

I've been there a couple times and really surprised it's fallen into such disrepair so fast. I guess I assumed they just knocked it down when they built the new stadium. I can't believe they couldn't find a high school somewhere willing to take the field turf. 

PvO6ZWJ.png

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On 6/28/2017 at 10:56 AM, kroywen said:

Olympic venues tend to be the absolute most wasteful expenses imaginable. Most countries/cities have zero use for 90% of those venues after the games are over (even if they're reduced in size).

 

America actually has an advantage over other countries on that issue - because we have well-develop intercollegiate athletic programs, Olympic venues in the US can often be reduced in size and used permanently by local D-I athletic programs. Both LA and Atlanta found permanent uses for many of their venues at the college level (I know UCLA, USC, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State all use some former Olympic venues). Same goes for re-purposing Olympic Villages into college dorms. Obviously most countries don't have that ability though.

 

I'm increasingly of the opinion that it would make more sense for the Olympics to be rotated around a few select cities globally. LA, London, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, etc., all have the infrastructure (at this point) to host games. Find one or two host cities in every region of the world, and rotate them around so that each city hosts once every 20 years or so (and can use the venues for Olympic training and other special events in the meantime). The notion of having a different city spend billions of dollars on useless infrastructure every four years, most of which will never be used again, is absurd. Especially when it's developing countries with massive government debt and loads of poverty trying to show off (Brazil, Qatar, etc).

would be (if i was in charge)

London UK

LA

Tokyo

Melbourne Australia

the 5th site is bid on (so you could get your Rio's and Beijing's in)

 

so long and thanks for all the fish.

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On 28.6.2017 at 8:13 PM, dfwabel said:

for a UEFA event.

Seville (bid for 2004 which went to Athens):

La%20Cartuja090305a_zps1hprzozb.jpg

 

Woah, I've never heard about that stadium before. A more popular one is the Olympic Stadium in Munich.

 

stringio.jpg?1414206986

I'm a simple person, I have a pixelated David Beckham as profile photo since 2010.

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2 hours ago, Berlin Wall said:

 

Woah, I've never heard about that stadium before. A more popular one is the Olympic Stadium in Munich.

 

stringio.jpg?1414206986

only good thing to come out of that stadium:

he was off sides.

 

so long and thanks for all the fish.

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If we can count Arenas here, I will just throw in the Izod Center in here. It was closed in 2015. Now its used for bands to rehearse in. But its future is uncertain, and the arena is likely to be torn down for a hotel/casino.

IZOD Center.jpg

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The real white elephant of the Meadowlands is that unsightly abomination of colored aluminum panels that's supposed to be a giant shopping mall with an indoor ski hill that sucks your dick or whatever it is that's in a perpetual state of construction.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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