Memorial Stadium

[MChance]

I haven't seen this stadium or it's now demolished site since I was a very little kid. Now, I'm reading how Ernie Harwell wants the city of Detroit to keep old Tiger Stadium and refurbish it into a venue for concerts and minor league sports. What was the reaction like aroud Baltimore in 2001 when Memorial Stadium was to be demolished? Was it sad? Were people glad it was torn down? Also, what is on it's site now? Like I said, I haven't been to 33rd Street since I was tiny and living in Pennsylvania makes it difficult to get a sense of what people thought. Thanks!

[hallmt18]

i'm pretty sure it's just a housing development now - there might be a ymca or something.

there was talk about at least keeping the structure at the front of the stadium (the part that says Memorial Stadium) and tearing down the rest. i think that would have been awesome. oh well, now it just looks like any other city block.

i was living a few blocks from the stadium when it was torn down. I'll try to dig out my pictures and scan some in. it was really sad.

[rolliefingers]

The site now consists of a YMCA (that I used to belong to) and senior housing. There are also outdoor fields and play areas that I believe are connected to the YMCA.

It's really sad that at least the facade wasn't kept intact. I really miss that place. It was a dump, but it had way more charm than it perhaps should have.

[BowieMike]

The Orioles in Memorial Stadium were a little before my time but I remember going on a walkthrough of the place back in the spring of 2000 when they wanted to showcase to the public some of the items the would be auctioning off in the future. I'll never forget walking through the Orioles clubhouse and imagining the kinds of things that went on in there, the different players that suited up in there each summer, the stories those walls could tell...

I recommend checking out a book called "The House of Magic". It's full of great pictures and anecdotes to wet the appetite of any sort of Orioles historian or even just someone who wants to relive the glory days on 33rd street. It still sits on my nightstand to this day! That book was the reason I used to beg my Dad to take me down to the old stadium on Saturday afternoons just so we could drive around the back and peek in on what was once the center of the Orioles universe.

[BowieMike]

http://www.digitalballparks.com/American/Memorial.html

great site for stadium enthusiasts too!

[rolliefingers]

http://www.digitalballparks.com/American/Memorial.html

great site for stadium enthusiasts too!

Wow, some great old photos on that site.

http://www.digitalballparks.com/National/Ebbets.html

Nice shot of a very young Frank about seven pictures into the slideshow.

[rolliefingers]

http://www.digitalballparks.com/American/Griffith15.html

;)

[IHeartMASN]

There is a DVD floating around that covers the time leading up to the stadium demolition. It's kind of amatuerish, but still interesting to watch.

If you use Google Earth you can see the site. It looks like a spaceship landed there.

[frankpembleton]

There is a DVD floating around that covers the time leading up to the stadium demolition. It's kind of amatuerish, but still interesting to watch.

If you use Google Earth you can see the site. It looks like a spaceship landed there.

This was actually a really good documentary if you are talking about the same thing I saw. It was really done in a unique way I thought.

[rolliefingers]

This was actually a really good documentary if you are talking about the same thing I saw. It was really done in a unique way I thought.

http://www.memorialstadium.org/project_files/home.html

Is that the one?

It was OK. Some good footage, but it could have been produced better.