Two weeks ago we told you about the plan to demolish and rebuild Tinker Field. The plan was first mentioned at a City Council workshop that day and appeared to be a done deal.
At yesterday’s City Council meeting Mayor Buddy Dyer told City Staff to hold off on the demolition of the Tinker Field grandstands.
Here’s what he had to say:
At this time I’m directing staff not to move forward with the demolition of the bleachers of Tinker Field and to further evaluate all options that we have related to preserving the heritage of Tinker Field.
We will continue to rebuild McCraken into whatever that may end up being [called]… A new facility that will actually be able to hold baseball games and to serve as a concert venue.
So during the rebuild we’ll ask the architects that will come off of the Citrus Bowl team to look at Tinker Field and the existing structures and identify what ways we might pay tribute and honor the history there and the historical events that took place on the field.
We’ll keep you posted on what the City determines to do with Tinker Field.
What would you like to see done to honor Tinker Field?
Here’s Mayor Dyer’s full comments to City Council regarding this topic:
If tinker field is so loved by the city, why have we done so little to preserve it over the years? Not really sure why it’s so great to keep something that’s such a dump, either. It’s useless and doesn’t even have a team.
You can preserve and repurpose historic buildings, but historic baseball fields? What else would it be used for? I’d be interested in hearing of some practical use for a preserved Tinker Field. If not, I don’t think it is realistic to keep it around just as a giant memento.