New Fenway/Red Sox Stadium

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mass88

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I am curious how you all feel about the Red Sox getting a brand new stadium.

About a decade ago the idea was floated around and came close to being a reality. There were plans and renderings that looked promising.

I personally love Fenway, but feel the Red Sox need a brand new stadium. Fenway has one of the smallest capacities in all of MLB, while being in one of the largest markets. Tickets are tough to come by for the average fan. Between the large season ticket holder base and the third party sellers managing to get their hands on thousands of tickets to all 81 home games, it makes for a tough prospect for an average fan.

Now the Garden was beloved by all and it was replaced by the Shawmut Center/Fleet Center/TD Bank North Garden/TD Garden. So why can't Fenway suffer the same fate?

I would be in favor of a new ballpark being constructed in the city preferably in the Fenway neighborhood. The SB waterfront would be nice and a great piece of development there, but the Sox play 81 home games and having the large amount of vehicle traffic make it's way across the city would not go over so well.

I think a new 45-47,000 seats stadium (46-48,000 with standing room) would be a good option. The Red Sox can only keep up with the Yankees/Mets/Phillies, who all have new large ballparks with more suites and club seats, for so long. Now I realize that ticket prices probably would not drop, but at least it would make it easier for the average fan to get tickets to a couple of games a season.

A SB waterfront stadium would be nice as I mentioned, god knows there is plenty of space, but the good thing about the location of Fenway is that the people that drive to enter the city core during rush hour as they would have to with a stadium in the SB waterfront. I also would wonder what would happen to the Fenway/Kenmore area without the park there.
 
What Boston really needs is a NL team so that all the baseball fans priced out of Fenway can go pay $8 to watch the Boston Minutemen play in their swanky 50,000 seat stadium with all the bells and whistles.

Seriously though.......I'd be in favor of a new stadium as long as Fenway Park gets landmark status and is preserved. The Sox could play a few games there each season for nostalgic reasons, and the local college teams could also get in some games and you could use it for other purposes like concerts and even the occasional Bruins game. But.......I dont see it happening anytime soon, this is Boston.
 
Sounds great! And let's level the North End and build a world-class state-of-the-art Olive Garden in its place, while we're at it.
 
Just a reminder:

bosbpk03.jpg
 
^ that's all the Trilogy, 1330 and other developments.

Also, a new stadium will not lower ticket prices. Fenway has paid itself off a million times over, so the owners make a ton from it. Without even doing the economics on it, i feel 100% confident in saying that if you build a new stadium with only 10,000 more seats in it (that would be roughly 49,000) you would not be able to lower prices. Every new stadium has luxury boxes, seat fees, and tax payer $$ in it. not worth it, especially at this point, Fenway will be played in until it falls in on itself. it has at least another 20 years of life.
 
Shepard said:
Sounds great! And let's level the North End and build a world-class state-of-the-art Olive Garden in its place, while we're at it.
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We're talking about preserving the old Fenway park while building a new one, not leveling it...
 
The new Nationals stadium cost $611 million, and the land was cheap. Seats 41,900. Sterile stadium with little character. The new Yankee Stadium cost $1.3 billion, and seats 51,800.

Nobody is going to preserve the old Fenway. Insurance and upkeep costs, and taxes, would be prohibitive to keep it standing. It'd be torn down. The land is too valuable. They tore old Yankee Stadium down and that had as many ghosts, if not more, as Fenway.

So you'd probably be looking at least $1 billion (in current prices) to build a new Fenway of the size you want. I'd guess the cost of a ticket would go up between 25-50 percent to pay off the cost of this.

Any you aren't going to find land in Boston to build a new stadium. There was a great deal of hostility toward a proposal that would have had the Patriots build in S. Boston, and that over a stadium used for 10-12 games a year.
 
The Old Garden needed to be replaced. It had no elevators and no air conditioning and was totally unsuitable for playing either hockey or basketball playoff games in hot June weather. It had sentimental value but was functionally obsolete.

Fenway Park still works, and has been greatly improved under the Henry-Lucchino regime, thanks to Janet Marie Smith.
 
10years ago I was all for tearing down Fenway and building the best sports stadium in the nation.

Seeing the improvements over the years Fenway Park must be saved!

However if they cannot replace the tiny grandstand/blue seats with seats that can fit an average size person then Fenway should be replaced.

I suggest extending an Orange Line Branch to Kenmore, Building a parking garage over the Pike that would include a Pike "sling shot" or turnaround that has been talked about for years and allow comuters and Sox fans to exit pike and park in garage. Then Fenway can take over Lansdowne St. which could be relocated to masspike side.
 
I was not trying to say having a 48,000 seat stadium would lead to lower ticket prices. My point was that there would be an extra 8,000 or so tickets a game and make it easier for a fan, who does not have season tickets or wishes to pay a large markup via Ace Ticket, a chance at being able to see a game or two a season.

It will get to the point where the Red Sox cannot generate enough revenue from Fenway in order to keep up with teams that have modern, larger parks that have club seats and suites. I am pretty sure John Henry has hinted at this in recent times.
 
bosma said:
10years ago I was all for tearing down Fenway and building the best sports stadium in the nation.

Seeing the improvements over the years Fenway Park must be saved!

However if they cannot replace the tiny grandstand/blue seats with seats that can fit an average size person then Fenway should be replaced.

I suggest extending an Orange Line Branch to Kenmore, Building a parking garage over the Pike that would include a Pike "sling shot" or turnaround that has been talked about for years and allow comuters and Sox fans to exit pike and park in garage. Then Fenway can take over Lansdowne St. which could be relocated to masspike side.
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If the Sox continue to change things about Fenway, it will lose its identity and charm. Replacing the Blue Grandstand seats with modern , wider seats would only decrease capacity and lose the character of being squished into your seat.
 
[Too?] Radical Idea: Move the businesses on Landsdowne to Van Ness (Parking Lots!), move Landsdowne closer to the tracks, move the Green Monster back so it's still against the street (maybe put small retail in the street-level wall), move the bleachers back, bring the field out and sink it further down so the regular stands can be brought down further.


Could also use the room made at Landsdowne to relocate Yawkey Station and give platforms for both tracks.

EDIT: Just saw Bosma's post and somehow reminded me, the Landsdowne businesses could be put over Mass Pike/MBTA air rights so they aren't significantly displaced.
 
Potential use for the Greenway or City Hall Plaza: weekend games broadcast live on huge screen to audience of picnickers and lawnchairs. This would draw crowds and could probably be completely advertiser/sponsor funded.
 
Move the wall back? No thanks, that would completely change the playing characteristics of the field.
 
Ron Newman said:
Move the wall back? No thanks, that would completely change the playing characteristics of the field.
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I said to bring the field forward, though, so it's just the same. ;o It's only so the stands can't be brought out even more.
 
just my opinion but since all these other teams especially the yankees are getting new stadiums that only makes me want to keep fenway even more because now our stadium is even more historical
 
If you read the history of the new Yankee Stadium you will want to keep Fenway even more. Hello corruption!
 
The Old Garden needed to be replaced. It had no elevators and no air conditioning and was totally unsuitable for playing either hockey or basketball playoff games in hot June weather. It had sentimental value but was functionally obsolete.
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Sounds like the solution was a renovation including AC and elevators, NOT a wholesale demolition.
 
But that much renovation of the Old Garden would likely require closing it for an extended period, and I don't think we had any suitable place to relocate the Celtics and Bruins to during that time. The New Garden could be built while the Old Garden was still standing and in use.

The Old Garden's electrical system was also problematic, causing several power failures during playoff games (and causing one playoff game to be moved to Edmonton)
 
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