It is time to demolish Detroit's Tiger Stadium.
Then the Lionel Family Center must be built on a portion of that land.
The Lionel Family Center will feature at least 20 rooms each with operating layouts representing different regions and railroads of the United States and Canada.
After paying their admission, Visiting Families will be able to pick up specially tuned CAB-1 and CAB-2 controllers to operate the Lionel trains and accessories on the specific layouts.
The Lionel Family Center will be an attraction that Downtown Detroit needs all year long.
Andrew Falconer
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
Sorry to here about them demolishing Tiger sadium. Was one of the best old parks to see a game at. Had lots o memories there but the Lionel family center sure sounds great.
laz57
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Comerica Park will still be around.
So will the Detroit Tigers in October
Tigers Stadium will either have to be completely restored for a Television Series set in the 1980's or it will collapse from negelect.
Lionel Trains needs to step in and expand the scope of the company with the new attraction of a Family Center were famlies can try all types of trains and railroads.
It could inspire Parents and Kids to work together to build their own layout.
Perhaps one can be built in Milwaukee, because Lionel Trains are popular in Milwaukee.
Andrew
That would finally give me an excuse to visit Detroit. I only hope that they would hang the American flags correctly. In the big book of Lionel, all the American flags are hung with the flag backwards, stars in the upper right when hung by the lanyard holes. Oh well, they mean well.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Andrew, nice idea but I wouldn't hold your breath until the final ruling on the MTH/Lionel suit happens. And even if that ruling is in Lionel's favor, I don't believe Lionel has the interest or the capital to undertake such a venture.
I've read that Lionel too has debt with Sanda Kan. They haven't advertised even in the market focused train magazines in well over a year (nevermind unexposed areas where the advertising needs to happen), so obviously they are looking to cut any deemed unnecessary expenditures. Top that all off with the thought that I don't think Wellspring is interested in anything except Lionel being profitable and less of a headache.
Lionel has way too much money tied up into new product tooling to undertake such an extra project. Remember this isn't the "good ol' days" where tooling could be used for decades... customers didn't complain and the tooling paid for itself. I don't even think the tooling today has the longevity it once did... look at MTH. Mike Wolf admitted the former Premiere items were tooled for longevity. Within 5 years the locos were very subpar to the competition, so the Premiere tooling became the Scale Railking tooling.
I dare say that most of the big train companies are feeling the pressure of trying to balance new expensive tooling that yields miminal returns (with a few exceptions) with pleasing the ever increasing impossible to please buyers. Even Atlas has had to raise prices quite a bit. I mean you can't have all this brand new detailed product without some cost, especially since most of these new products do not have broad-base appeal: Lionel's Docksider, FasTrack and the entire RMT product line are the exceptions.
Folks on the other forum are applauding Lionel's hiring of Nick Ladd to help with the K-Lionel line as a sign of Lionel's serious committment to this line in the future. Nonsense. That's not a knock against Nick. But Lionel has signed an business agreement to have made a minimal number of trains made under the K-Line banner. I cannot see Lionel continuing the K-Line product line as vigorously as once was. And K-Line at Lionel prices defeats the prupose of what K-Line once was. All Lionel needs to do is to fulfill their yearly number with Sanda Kan. The hefty increases in list prices should dull the excitement for future K-line products.Remember SK makes Lionel's own line too.
There are other far more cost-effective efforts Lionel could make than a massive building project, and they haven't even made those yet. Again, everything hinges on the lawsuit.
brianel, Agent 027
"Praise the Lord. I may not have everything I desire, but the Lord has come through for what I need."
This would not be an enterprise funded entirely by LIONEL.
It would take the power and money of Detroit Businessman and Property owner Mike Ilitch to redevelop the land where the old Tigers Stadium is currently occuping.
Mike Ilitch owns Little Caesars Pizza, the Tigers, and the Red Wings.
LIONEL would not own the land or the building, they would be renting it from Mike Ilitch.
Tigers Stadium has been vacant since 1999. Something better has to happen on that property.
The new structures that can be built on the property where Tigers Stadium is now would be great with an Art Deco appearance, just made out of more durable materials.
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
Dismantle and Recycle is more the way to go then just demolish. Demolish is more dramatic.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Fitzpatrick wants condominium housing and shops. Too local of an attraction.
He should think bigger, historical, and innovative on replacing the stadium at Michigan & Trumball.
They have to build and run national based attractions.
The Lionel Family Center will draw people from far away if done in an thorough and professional manner.
cnw1995 wrote:I agree - anything to slow down the Tigers 'run of the board' this season for my White Sox.
Great weekend for the Sox - Get your brooms out - SWEEP!!!!!!!!
Kind-of sad in a way. I took in an A's Game last Monday while in Oakland on business, and I gotta say... those old stadiums are awesome! Really contributed to the atmosphere, and I've never felt so close to the game. Literally! The seating was superb. I've been in many newer stadiums, and they have their appeal, but I really liked the "old-school" feeling that the newer stadiums don't provide. Any-way... never been to Tiger Stadium, probably "needing" to be demolished, but sad to see the old stadiums being replaced.
Greg
The LIONEL train set which could come out of this will feature the Mike Ilitch businesses of the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Red Wings, and Little Caesers Pizza. That is another reason to make a new 'Stadium' Style structure around the old ballfield. They most likely will keep the old baseball field, just remove the old Stadium Structures.
The Detroit Tigers will play baseball at Comerica Park in the playoffs this October
We can wait a month before the original Tigers Stadium is slowly dismantled.
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