A's Proposed New Stadium

[Camden Crazy]

I know this is old news, but I was at www.ballparksofbaseball.com this morning and saw a new proposed park. It is supposed to be built across the street from McAfee Coliseum and Oakland Arena. It would be built along with condominiums and a hotel which is located right behind the left center field wall. One thing I like is that it is VERY unique. If it's built like this, it may be the best park in baseball. Here are the screens (credit goes to ballparksofbaseball and www.sfgate.com):

And here is a link to the article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...Astadium12.DTL&

[Mings]

360 and Gensler, two great up and coming firms. Nice to see them branch out into baseball. And yes, if built as it is depicted it could very well be the best park in baseball. I especially love the condos and hotel and how they are right in the action. If I ever went to oakland, that would be where I would stay.

[Camden Crazy]

They also took a few pages from older stadiums' books. The triangular shaped seating reminds me of Griffith Stadium in Washington, and it looks like a carbon copy of Pesky's Pole in right field.

[NJTank]

Well they need it McAfee is a football stadium.

[shootachtung]

I hope they build this. I'd go to every A's game possible. I'd stay at that hotel even though I live only 20 minutes away. That area needs serious redevelopment, too.

[Jigga]

Wow, that looks amazing. I agree it could be the best park if built.

What's the over under on how long it would take some drunk to fall from one of those balconies onto the field?

[wheateater]

Those stands from right-center field all the way around to the first-base side of the field (if you go clockwise using the top picture in Camden's original post) remind a lot of Tiger Stadium and other old stadiums that had that roof overhang. All these new ballparks have turned to a more open-air feel with their stadiums. I like this design because it combines the old with the new (the new being the outfield part from RC to the left-filed pole). Still, it feels a little too enclosed to me since you can't see anything outside the stadium, but hey, who wants to see the rest of Oakland anyway?

[marlinfan]

Very nice design.

Those seats in CF could become hot sellers like the seats on the Green Monster.

[DEAD!]

Still, it feels a little too enclosed to me since you can't see anything outside the stadium, but hey, who wants to see the rest of Oakland anyway? 

But if you have seen old pictures of the Coliseum, you would see some scenic hills beyond the outfield. That may have been part of the charm of the Coliseum until the Raiders moved back in. Interesting thing here, you have BOTH lines with a fairly short distance, then as you go even 10 feet out from the lines, the distance increases sharply, especially in right field.

I don't see where the bullpens are going to be. My guess is behind the centre field wall underneath those overhanging seats, which I do like BTW. It is looks like a nice ballpark overall.

Best part about it is that owners will pay for most of the cost

[LMU]

Hopefully they can get the funding for it. Otherwise, there's rumors that if they get permission from Selig, they could move to the South Bay (Santa Clara or San Jose), or maybe even Sacramento.

[WhiteSoxfanSSC04]

Woah! i have seen wild designs of ballparks in the past, but i have NEVER seen a ballpark designed this well. This one takes the cake. I thought that the new Washington ballpark, the New Yankee Stadium, or even Petco Park would be the finest gem, but this one surpasses all of them by far.

[ZBoyer]

As cool as staying in that hotel would be during a game, can you imagine how much money it would cost? You'd have to give your first-born son to stay there the night.

[Pat]

Other than the fact you can see nothing outside of the park, this park looks like a beuty. COuld be one of if not the best parks in the league if built.

[patsox]

fusweet

[sscrunner06]

This is a great design, and I really hope that they build this. The great thing about it is that it has so many neat little quirks and clever elements built into it while still maintaining the feel of a ballpark...I know I would definitely want to see a game here.

[VitaminD]

The condos/hotel is a great idea.

I'm surprised that with the boom of new stadiums all over the country that no one has tried to emulate what the neighborhood around Wrigley Field has. Looking at the Phillies' new home in South Philadelphia, you can see the Holiday Inn at the end of the old Vet Stadium parking lot looming over right-center field, but then nothing for 3.5 miles until you see the Center City skyscrapers.

With vast acres of unused land, if I were the Phillies, I'd build condos across "Phillies Way" (the new street beyond the center field area; S. 10th Street deadends onto it), tall enough to provide rooftop views of the action, then control access to the roofs. I'd be there in a heartbeat. Put in a couple parking towers or garages, and you're all set - instant neighborhood, throw in some restaurants/bars/shops, you're within 2 minutes of both I-95 and I-76.

I hope the A's can make this work, I'll be reserving a room in center field...

[SouthSidePride]

That is a killer ballpark, but I hope it dosen't get built. I am moving to Santa Clara, CA in a year or so and the A's have been entertaining a move to San Jose, which I hope happens. Maybe they can take that design and move it to San Jose. That would be ballpark bliss.

[no97]

I'm surprised at the 35,000 capacity figure, and was disapointed to find out the reason for it. Creating an artificial market for tickets seems like a scam of sorts. Who cares if the fans in the stands are season ticket holders or walk-up? I know season-tickets guarantee a set number of fans over a season, but with the number of partial plans the A's offer, it doesn't seem to matter...

Moose

[no97]

The condos/hotel is a great idea.

I'm surprised that with the boom of new stadiums all over the country that no one has tried to emulate what the neighborhood around Wrigley Field has. Looking at the Phillies' new home in South Philadelphia, you can see the Holiday Inn at the end of the old Vet Stadium parking lot looming over right-center field, but then nothing for 3.5 miles until you see the Center City skyscrapers.

With vast acres of unused land, if I were the Phillies, I'd build condos across "Phillies Way" (the new street beyond the center field area; S. 10th Street deadends onto it), tall enough to provide rooftop views of the action, then control access to the roofs. I'd be there in a heartbeat. Put in a couple parking towers or garages, and you're all set - instant neighborhood, throw in some restaurants/bars/shops, you're within 2 minutes of both I-95 and I-76.

I hope the A's can make this work, I'll be reserving a room in center field...

The Twins have announced a Wrigleyville component to their proposed ballpark, including "rooftop" seats, and a nightlife area... Too bad it's stalled in the State Legislature. There is a possibility for a Fall special session where a Twins stadium could be on the adjenda...

Moose

[tp49]

I like the proposal but for it to be successful they are going to have to do some of the development prior to the building of the stadium in order to make it more attractive. Currently there is nothing in the area save for industrial use (which the park and other development will replace) to keep people after games, and this area of Oakland is notoriously dangerous. There were housing projects to the East of the BART station parking lot which were torn down a couple of years ago but they are rebuilding public housing on that site. The Coliseum area is not an area where people would want to linger after a game without something to keep them there whcih will need to partially be built first. This stadium would be perfect for the doentown site that was originally planned for but was subsequently lost by the previous ownership group.

The A's will not move to San Jose, the Giants will not give up their rights to that area. Sacramento, considering the projections for population over the next 20 years would be a good place for them to move should they go that route.

That said though (and I already do go to 15 games a year at the Coliseum) if they build it I will go.