Comerica Park is home to Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers. Opened on April 11, 2000 it replaced the historic Tiger Stadium which had been the home of the Tigers since 1912.
The building of Comerica Park was part of the huge revitalization of downtown Detroit. In 2002, right across the street from Comerica Park, Ford Field opened, home to the National Football League's Detroit Lions. In the photo below Detroit's iconic GM Renaissance Center is bookended by the Detroit Lion's Ford Field on the left and the Detroit Tiger's Comerica Park on the right.
Of course, the ballpark's decorative theme is tigers: From the 33 tigers' heads with baseballs in their mouths (which light up at night) on the outside walls...
To the huge, growling tigers on the roof...
To the 15-foot tiger statue in front of the main entrance...
To the beautiful mosaic-tiled logo outside the management offices.
It was pleasantly warm the late Spring evening we walked around the park, and the Tigers baseball team was not playing so there were very few other people around the area.
What is really great about the design of this ballpark are the views from the street. You can see so much of the park without being in the park.
You can see the entire playing field (though your view would not be this good during an actual game...)
You can see the row of 13-foot tall, granite statues of the Tigers' players whose numbers have been retired. Located beyond the center field wall is the Tigers' Monument Park with statues of (l-r): Al Kaline, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Ty Cobb and Willie Horton. (The statue of Hal Hewhouser is not in the photo.)
You can see the Fly Ball Ferris Wheel, a 50-foot ferris wheel with the cars shaped like baseballs...
And you can see the scoreboard close-up with the two prowling tigers on the top. The tigers' eyes light up after a Tigers home run or a victory and the sound of a growling tiger can be heard as well. You can see I'm right at street-level; you can also see the Detroit Lions' Ford Field in the background.
Despite the city's not-so-great reputation, this area of downtown Detroit borders the Grand Circus Park Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This area contains a collection of late 19th and early 20th century commercial buildings by several noted architects including Daniel Burnham, who was so instrumental in the design of my town, Chicago. Several of these buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Grand Circus Park is located diagonally
across from Comerica Park. Grand Circus Park is bisected by
Woodward Avenue which is the east-west dividing line of Detroit. In the
center of each half of the semi-circular park, there is a beautiful
fountain. One of the fountains is the Russell A. Alger Memorial Fountain,
designed by architect Henry Bacon and sculptor Daniel Chester French,
both of whom are noted for designing the Lincoln Memorial in Washington
D.C. Russell Alger was a Civil War brigadier general, U.S. senator,
governor of Michigan and Secretary of War.
Located within this historic district is a small area surrounding a triangular-shaped park known as the Harmonie Park District. This area contains restaurants, art galleries and a theatre district second only to New York in number of seats. Located within just a few blocks of each other are the Detroit Opera House (built in 1922) and famed theatres such as the State Theatre (built in 1925 and now known as the Fillmore Detroit), the Gem Theatre and Century Club (built 1927) and the Fox Theatre (built in 1928). All three of these theatres are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
NOTE: All photos in this post were taken by me during my recent visit to Detroit.
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