Future Fenway Design Symposium
Work-In-Progress: Open Session Notes from the Design Symposium
Fenway Park Preservation Working Group
Open Session #3 Notes
Wednesday, August 9, 2000
Presentation by Howard Decker
"Fenway Park is rarer than an endangered species, one of only two remaining old-style ballparks (along with Wrigley Field). It can continue to lead a vibrant life as an active major league baseball venue. One of the things I love is the story of all the changes that have taken place over time."
The Red Sox complain that Fenway doesn't have enough capacity and is uncomfortable for fans (small seats, limited concessions and facilities). The first question we looked at is what would happen if we took out all the seats, and put them all back so they could provide greater comfort. How many spaces would we have? We found that we could do this -- meeting standards of comfort, accessibility and safety – with a loss of only 7% of seats. This includes cross-isles wide enough that two people can pass each other comfortably going in opposite directions, and access for disabled people to sit in many different areas of the ballpark.
Our goal was to increase seating comfort and capacity -- while improving service, maintenance, team comfort, and concessions -- without damaging the historic character of Fenway Park.
We can replace the seats, make the stadium accessible, increase points of sale, and move closer to meeting the Red Sox stated needs in other areas – at half the cost of the Red Sox new stadium now on the table (i.e., ~$175 million vs. $352 million). If we include the costs of land-taking, parking garages, and infrastructure that come with the Red Sox plan, the savings are even greater: ~$175 million vs. $672 million (before overruns).
Additional benefits of the preservation approach:
Taxpayers will find this more palatable;
Ballpark preservationists will be satisfied;
Landowners and city officials opposed to government land takings can rest easy;
The Red Sox could potentially save even more with investment tax credits and other incentives.
We are proposing a process that is a bit unusual. In order for the preservation of the facility to proceed, it needs to be designated as a landmark. When you nominate a building for landmark status, you are asked to determine the moment of greatest significance in the life of the landmark. What would be that moment for Fenway Park? 1912? 1934? 1948? 1999?
Landmark status at Fenway is not about a moment, but about all the moments! So instead of proposing recognition of Fenway Park as a landmark building, we are proposing to nominate the park as a National Historic Landmark District. The district has six contributing elements:
- the original grandstand (1912)
- the bleacher section (1934)
- the left field wall, aka “the Green Monster” (1934)
- the right field grandstand (1934)
- the right field grandstand (1934)
- the playing field itself (1912)
We have drafted a list of the critical features in each of the six zones that are important to the character of the park. These will be the basis for developing a Cultural Resource Management Plan that serves as a guide for permissible development in each zone. This is not done frequently in private development, but it has been done. It requires a different standard of care’ for critical elements’ that may be higher than standards for other elements.
Many changes can still be made: we can, for example, cut a hole in the seating bowl and add a new area for toilets and concessions. But we can’t, for example, remove the original outer wall in some areas. This need not be seen as handcuffing the Red Sox. Instead it is a process to embrace, to engage in, and to meet many of the goals that they are working to solve.
When a building becomes significant over time, it's "spirit" passes out of the hands of people that own it and into the hands of all of us. It becomes a part of us. Fenway Park can continue to meet our needs, to meet the Sox needs, it can succeed, and we can be sure that this one of two remaining of this species will be safe.
Questions, Answers and Comments from THIS SESSION
Preservation Proposal SLIDE SHOW
Open Session notes from 8/7/00
Grandstand Reconstruction Proposal
Future Fenway Design Symposium
Preservation Proposal SLIDE SHOW
Open Session notes from 8/7/00
Grandstand Reconstruction Proposal
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