At the First Pitch Celebration Saturday night, Coach Tim Jamieson presented architects drawings of the NEW version of the planned new construction and expansion at Taylor Stadium.
The most obvious change to the plans presented a year ago is that the bulk of new construction has been moved from the right field line to the left field line. According to the Coach, this was done for the simple reason that the 1st base dugout is more protected from the cold NW winds that often whip into the ballpark, and the Tigers would prefer to stay on that side of the field.
Hopefully the architects' drawings will be posted at mutigers.com at some point, but here is a summary of the planned construction:
■ The Tigers' clubhouse will be located along the third base line, starting from the end of the current locker rooms
■ Moving on down the 3B line from the clubhouse will be a training room, a lobby, new offices for the Baseball coaches, a glass-walled observation area, and an indoor pitching/batting area.
■ There will be a door into the indoor practice area from the home bullpen, which will remain at it s current location and be widened to add a third pitching mound.
■ In front of the clubhouse area along the 3B line will be a set of field-level suites available for rent by fans and groups. There is also the possibility of building a flat deck on the top of the clubhouse area, accessible from the existing 3B-line stands, where various events could take place.
■ The RF stands will be extended down to where the current visitors' bullpen is. There are plans for a picnic area or some such space to replace that current bullpen.
■ The visitors' bullpen will now actually be on the field itself, in foul territory directly in front of the new RF stands. Coach Jamieson said this was Tony Vitello's idea, and suggested we need lots of students to sit in that area.
■ Because of certain logistical details of the entire plan, it may be decided to move the RF wall in a few feet, from 340 feet to around 312 feet. This would be accompanied by the building of a 24 foot high outfield wall in that area.
All of this is slated to get underway immediately following the close of the 2009 season and will be ready for use by the beginning of the 2010 season.
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