The Coors Light Sky Deck at the Detroit Opera House "celebrates its grand opening Friday, offering a rooftop beer garden, modest aluminum bleachers and a one-of-a-kind view straight into Comerica Park from straightaway center field that takes in nearly the entire diamond," according to a front-page piece by Mark Stryker of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. It is "approximately 450 feet from the roof to the center field wall, which means it’s a little more than 900 feet from home plate." By comparison, some of the "famous rooftop seats across the street from Wrigley Field in Chicago are as close as 450 feet from home plate." Detroit Courtyard Marriott GM Jon Coutts, who was given a tour of the new area, said, "It’s a fantastic view. You feel like you’re in the mix, but not in the crowd." Stryker reports the the deck encompasses 250 patrons who will be "paying a nominal charge to sit some 900 feet from home plate." MLB teams "haven’t always looked kindly on squatters taking in games for free or others profiting off their product." But Michigan Opera Theatre Operations Dir Jason Warzecha said that the building, in the "interest of neighborly relations, had its sponsor, MillerCoors -- already a longtime partner of the team at Comerica Park -- talk to Tigers officials to make sure there were no objections to going forward with the idea" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/12).
