Turner Field's Akward Location (Atlanta, Pitts: neighborhoods, live, move)

[Flint1908]

Just a thought...

After tearing down the Atlanta-Fulton stadium it would have made more sense to build Turner Field in or around Centennial Olympic/The Dome. The increased foot traffic, access to public transportation and skyline backdrop would make going to the games more enjoyable in my opinion. Most of the other major cities I've visited have the right idea, but Turner Field just feels out of place...

PNC Park, Pittsburgh


AT&T Park, San Francisco


Busch Stadium, St. Louis


Turner Field, 1.5 miles from downtown





Thoughts?

[cwkimbro]

I understand some of the issues... which I hope to be fixed with new development of the parking lots in the future, however baseball stadiums have commonly been placed away from downtowns in more neighborhood areas. (ie Chicago, NY, etc...)

We don't have any old industrial tracks on a water way overlooking downtown or a large bay to make make use of.

There is no space immediately around Centennial Park.

The other thing is I think Turner Field is a nice stadium. It is designed well to make revenue and offer amenities to guest. It also will always have the history of having been the Olympic Stadium.

I think our efforts would be best spent on how to build onto the neighborhood that connects it to downtown in a fun, vibrant way.

[toll_booth]

This discussion pops up from time to time.

The solution? Get a giant crane and move the Ted next to the Falcons' future stadium.

OK, so maybe that won't work. How about develop the area and consider building a new MARTA line out in that direction.

[DTL3000]

It wouldn't be all that bad if the surrounding area would ever improve...they've been waiting on that for 47 years...
Summerhill and Mechanicsville could be amazing neighborhoods if the city would ever invest in them. There's no reason why about a half dozen sports bars can't be supported near the stadium other than Braves fans are afraid of the area. And I heard that the city(or Braves, didn't really look deep into it) is hassling vendors near the stadium...that's completely the wrong direction if they want to improve the scene.

It's really not terribly far from downtown and the Ga State Marta station but again, the area leaves much to be desired and it's not the most inviting walk late at night, even with a big crowd.

One plus about the location: ample parking.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

...
The other thing is I think Turner Field is a nice stadium. It is designed well to make revenue and offer amenities to guest. It also will always have the history of having been the Olympic Stadium.

I think our efforts would be best spent on how to build onto the neighborhood that connects it to downtown in a fun, vibrant way.

This.


And rename it Turner Park at Summerhill.
(Turner Field at Summerhill just wouldn't sound right)

[MattCW]

They could easily put a baseball stadium on the south site of the new Falcons boondoggle, which would actually have real benefits. Hopefully the Falcons deal gets derailed, and someone with real pull will seriously suggest a new baseball stadium near all of Atlanta's other sports venues.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by Flint1908

Just a thought...

After tearing down the Atlanta-Fulton stadium it would have made more sense to build Turner Field in or around Centennial Olympic/The Dom

Thoughts?

You do understand that Turner Field was built before Atlanta-Fulton County stadium was torn down and began life as the much larger 100,000+ seat Olympic stadium, right?

It had to be built where it was because there wasn't anywhere else in Downtown to put it. I don't disagree more needs to be done to integrate it in to the surrounding neighborhoods, but where it is located makes a lot of sense.

[westau]

Originally Posted by MattCW

They could easily put a baseball stadium on the south site of the new Falcons boondoggle, which would actually have real benefits. Hopefully the Falcons deal gets derailed, and someone with real pull will seriously suggest a new baseball stadium near all of Atlanta's other sports venues.

If somehow the Falcons deal gets derailed the Falcons won't be downtown anymore and will end up in the suburbs somewhere.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

You do understand that Turner Field was built before Atlanta-Fulton County stadium was torn down and began life as the much larger 100,000+ seat Olympic stadium, right?

It had to be built where it was because there wasn't anywhere else in Downtown to put it. I don't disagree more needs to be done to integrate it in to the surrounding neighborhoods, but where it is located makes a lot of sense.

Not to nitpick, but Olympic Stadium only held 85,000 before conversion.

And the only reason it was put in AFCS' old south parking lot was a matter of convenience and the cheap way out, that while fiscally responsible, didn't really take the long term health of Summerhill/Peoplestown into account.

Fortunately the parking lots are ripe for development, so it is likely that new projects will be considered for the Turner Field area.

[Newsboy]

There are people alive who don't know Turner Field was Olympic Stadium? Good grief ... how depressing. Do people ever GOOGLE or WIKI search things before they post on C-D?!

"Atlanta hosted the Olympics? When? I didn't know about it ..."