Tigers President John McHale said he "is optimistic" that
legal challenges from the Tiger Stadium Fan Club will be overcome
and that construction on the new Stadium will begin in December,
according to Joseph Serwach of CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS. McHale
said, while the stadium could be completed within two years after
ground breaking, it "will probably take 30 months" in order to
avoid mistakes. In a separate piece, Matt Roush reports that
Denise Ilitch Lites, daughter of Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch and
president of Olympia Development Inc., will return to Detroit to
help attract business and entertainment opportunities to the new
stadium area. Ilitch Lites said she will hire at least one
senior staff member and a support staff soon but that her company
will not be involved directly in land acquisition for the stadium
itself, which is being handled by the city (CRAIN'S DETROIT
BUSINESS, 5/20).
RUMOR-DU-JOUR: The DETROIT NEWS' Joe Falls reports that
"the rumor bouncing around" is that Ilitch lacks the funds to
build the new ballpark and that Edsel Ford will buy the Tigers
and share a downtown stadium with Bill Ford's Lions. McHale:
"We've had continuing talks with the Lions, but there is nothing
to it right now. And we do have the money to build our own
stadium" (DETROIT NEWS, 5/26).
